Punjab CM Amarinder Singh says he will decide on Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation on Wednesday
Earlier, Singh had said that he could not do anything if Sidhu did not want to do his job.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said he will decide on Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation from the state Cabinet on Wednesday, after going through the contents of the letter, PTI reported. The chief minister told the news agency he has some meetings to attend in Delhi and will return to Chandigarh on Wednesday.
“Met the Congress MPs from Punjab in the Parliament today,” Singh tweeted. “Happy to see they are consistently raising issues of importance that concern Punjab and Punjabis.” The All India Congress committee head for Punjab, Asha Kumari, also attended the meeting.
Sidhu had sent his resignation as Punjab Cabinet minister to the chief minister’s residence on Monday. Singh on Monday said he could not do anything if Sidhu did not want to do his job. Singh asked how “a soldier could refuse a job assigned by the general?”
“There has to be some discipline in the government if it is to function effectively,” Singh said in New Delhi. “The minister should have accepted his new portfolio instead of shunning work in the middle of the crucial paddy season.”
Sidhu was on June 6 stripped of the local bodies and tourism portfolios following a Cabinet meeting he skipped amid a tussle with the chief minister. He was given charge of the department of power and energy sources in the shuffle, but he has not taken charge of it yet. Singh himself chaired meetings of the ministries.
On June 8, Singh formed eight consultative groups to monitor the state government’s flagship programmes. Sidhu was not named in any group. According to Sidhu’s announcement on Sunday, he submitted his resignation letter to former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on June 10.