Days after disciplinary action sought against him, Navjot Singh Sidhu says time will reply
Chandigarh, May 4: Days after AICC Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary sought disciplinary action against party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former state Congress chief issued a cryptic tweet Wednesday, saying he has "given the right to reply to time".
Though he didn't give any context to his tweet, it is being seen as a response to Chaudhary's letter to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking action against Sidhu for trying to "portray himself above the party".
"I often listen to talks against me in silence I have given the right to reply to time," Sidhu said in a tweet in Hindi.
In the letter dated April 23, which surfaced on Monday, Chaudhary had also forwarded a detailed note by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring regarding Sidhu's "current activities".
Chaudhary had noted in the letter that Sidhu relentlessly criticised the previous Congress government despite being asked not to do so.
Chaudhary had also mentioned that during the ceremony to install Warring as Punjab Congress chief Sidhu had come to the state party headquarters, but did not share the stage with other leaders.
It was "inexcusable", according to Chaudhary.
In his note, Warring was learnt to have highlighted Sidhu's "parallel activities" and his recent meetings with expelled leaders including former MLAs Surjit Singh Dhiman and Kewal Dhillon. Warring had on Monday refused to make any comment on the letter but asserted everybody has to be in discipline.
The demand for action against Sidhu came also after his tweet wishing the best to poll strategist Prashant Kishor who had hinted at making a fresh beginning from his home state Bihar.
"The first blow is half the battle my friend. A good beginning always makes a good ending Best always in your sincere efforts to honour the spirit of our Constitution. The power of people must return to the people', manifold," Sidhu had said in a tweet.
He had also put out a picture of him with Kishor the day the poll strategist declined the Congress offer to join the party.
Following the party's drubbing in the five states that went to polls earlier this year, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had asked the party chiefs there to resign.
The Congress appointed Warring in place of Sidhu.
For months before the elections, Sidhu had been questioning the leadership of the then chief minister Amarinder Singh. He also directed barbs at his own party's Charanjit Singh Channi, who took over as the CM ahead of the elections.
अपने ख़िलाफ़ बातें मैं अक्सर खामोशी से सुनता हूँ . . . . .
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) May 4, 2022
जवाब देने का हक़ , मैंने वक्त को दे रखा है . . .
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
