Navjot Singh Sidhu faces heat after Congress debacle in assembly polls, resigns as Punjab PCC chief

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday resigned as the party's state unit chief over the party’s humiliating defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states.

It may be recalled that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had reportedly asked the party’s state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers after the party's drubbing in the recently held Assembly polls.

The axe fell on the Congress's satraps, including its Punjab president Sidhu, two days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) brainstormed about the reasons for the party's debacle in the latest round of state assembly polls. The Congress failed to wrest the four BJP-ruled states and lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate the reorganisation of PCCs," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.

The cricketer-turned-politician shared information about his resignation on his Twitter handle. “As desired by the Congress president, I have sent my resignation,’’ his tweet read.

In his resignation letter written to Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu wrote, “I hereby resign as President (PPCC).” The Congress faced a humiliating defeat in Punjab, winning only 18 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party romped home with 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.

Sidhu himself lost to the Aam Aadmi Party's Jeevanjot Kaur from the Amritsar East Assembly seat by 6,750 votes. He had taken over as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president in July last year.

Several Punjab Congress candidates on Tuesday had blamed indiscipline and infighting among the state unit leaders for the party's crushing defeat. 

Congress's G-23 leaders, meanwhile, have decided to meet at Kapil Sibal's residence on Wednesday to discuss the situation obtaining in the party in the aftermath of its embarrassing loss in the assembly elections in five states and the CWC's endorsement of Sonia Gandhi's continuance as president.

Sources close to the Group of 23 leaders said they have also invited Congressmen who don't constitute the bloc but feel changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive its electoral fortunes.

The group, which has been critical of the leadership, had written to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 demanding an organisational overhaul.