Punjab minister Sidhu meets Rahul Gandhi, apprises him of 'situation'
Chandigarh: Punjab minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu Monday met party president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and apprised him of the "situation" in the state, days after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh divested him of the crucial local government department.
"Met the Congress President, handed him my letter, appraised him of the situation ! Sidhu tweeted.
The cricketer-turned-politician also posted a picture in which he seen along with Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and senior leader Ahmed Patel.
Sidhu had made attempts to meet Rahul Gandhi last week after he was divested of the local government and tourism and cultural affairs departments in a cabinet rejig.
He was given the power and new and renewable energy sources portfolios.
The developments came after Sidhu, who moved from the BJP to the Congress just before 2017 assembly polls, had skipped a cabinet meeting and instead chose to address the media at his official residence on Thursday.
Tension between Singh and Sidhu had come out in the open last month when the chief minister had blamed the cricketer-turned-politician's inept handling of the local government department for the poor performance of the Congress in the urban areas in the Lok Sabha polls.
The chief minister had also said the urban votebank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's failure to do any development work had impacted the party.
After the ministry snub, Sidhu was left out of eight consultative groups formed by the chief minister on Saturday to expedite implementation of the state government's schemes.
Sidhu, however, on Thursday, had said his department had been singled out publicly while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a performer throughout .
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Had a very good conversation with friend Modi: Trump
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had a "very good conversation" with his "friend" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He was referring to the talks the two leaders had on Tuesday.
"I had a very good talk with him, and he's a friend of mine from India, and he's doing great. We had a very good conversation," Trump told reporters here as he headed to Las Vegas to address a roundtable on tax cuts.
Trump had called Modi on Tuesday to discuss the bilateral relationship and share perspectives on the situation in West Asia, where the US and Israel have launched a war on Iran.
The US and Iran declared a two-week ceasefire on April 7. They engaged in peace talks with Washington, insisting that Tehran give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons and uranium enrichment.
The war with Iran has sent gas prices soaring as Tehran blocked the sea lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway for a fifth of global oil supplies.
During the Trump-Modi phone call on Tuesday, the two leaders stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.
According to the US Ambassador to India Sergei Gor, the 40-minute conversation ended with Trump telling Modi, "we all love you".
Tuesday's phone call was the second between the two leaders since the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28.
