Rs 500 crore remark: Dy CM Shivakumar asks Navjot Kaur Sidhu to get admitted to 'mental hospital'
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday advised Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu to get admitted in a mental health facility for her "Rs 500 crore for CM post" remark.
Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, had triggered a row on Saturday by claiming that "one who gives a suitcase of Rs 500 crore becomes the Chief Minister," drawing strong response from the BJP and AAP over Congress' functioning.
Responding to her remark, Shivakumar, also state Congress president, said, "let her be admitted to a hospital, some good mental hospital."
Sidhu had said her husband will return to active politics if the Congress declares him as the party's chief ministerial face in Punjab, ahead of the 2027 polls there.
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She further said they do not have money to give to any party but can transform Punjab into a 'golden state'.
"We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat...but do not have Rs 500 crore which we can give to sit in chief minister's chair," she told reporters on Saturday after meeting Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on issues, including alleged deterioration of law and order in the state.
When asked if anybody demanded money from them, she said that was not the case but that the "one who gives a suitcase of Rs 500 crore he becomes the CM".
She later claimed that a twist was given to her straight comment.
"I am shocked to see the twist given to a straight comment saying that our Congress party has never demanded anything from us. On being asked about Navjot becoming a CM face from any other party, I stated that we have no money to offer for a CM post," Kaur said in a post on X on Sunday evening.
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In a first, Meitei MLA visits Kuki relief camp in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): In a first since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in 2023, a Meitei MLA on Monday visited a relief camp set up for the Kuki community in Ukhrul district.
BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh, who represents the Singjamei constituency in Imphal West, visited a camp at Litan Sareikhong and interacted with Kuki inmates who fled their homes during the violence.
"With Christmas approaching, we all should pray for the return of peace in the state," he told the inmates.
"There are conflicts almost everywhere in the world. But we should learn to live in harmony despite the existing differences. There should not be any hindrance in visiting each other's villages," he added.
Singh said this conflict should not be allowed to affect the future of children.
"We, the elders, both in the Hills and the Valley, may have differences, but we should think about our children's future," he said.
State BJP vice president H Shimray, who belongs to the Naga community, said Singh's visit is part of efforts to restore peace in the state and bring back the "previous love that existed between communities".
"We have been talking with Yumnam on how to start an interaction. He said there had to be a beginning," Shimray added.
Speaking to reporters, an inmate of the camp urged the government to allow them to return to their homes.
Over 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the clashes between the Kuki and Meitei communities, which have deeply divided the state on ethnic lines.
The state has been under the President's Rule since February, after BJP leader N Biren Singh resigned amid criticisms over his government's handling of the crisis.
