POLITICS-BJP seeks governor's intervention in stalemate between CM, Sidhu

The BJP has sought Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore's intervention in the stalemate between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has not yet assumed the charge of Power Ministry, claiming that the people were suffering. BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh, in a letter to the governor, said that Sidhu was allotted the power portfolio a month ago in a reshuffle exercise but he had not yet assumed charge of the ministry.

"The differences between the chief minister and the minister have led to a constitutional crisis which needs to be looked into at the earliest," he said in a statement Monday. "People have been facing hardships as the Power Department has remained unattended for over a month," Chugh said.

Attacking the former BJP MP, Chugh said Sidhu was enjoying all the perks and facilities of a cabinet rank minister but he is reluctant to serve. "This is seemingly an undue burden on the state exchequer. He is behaving in a manner which is not expected of a minister whose department requires his attention the most at this time," Chugh said.

The BJP leader said that it was the first time that a minister was not following the chief minister's orders. Chugh said the governor, being the constitutional head of the state, should intervene in the matter.

A month after he was stripped of key portfolios in a Cabinet reshuffle, Sidhu, who has gone incommunicado, is yet to take charge of his new assignment and it has come as an "embarrassment" to the Congress-led government. On June 6, Singh had divested Sidhu of the Local Bodies and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments. He allotted him the power and renewable energy portfolio.

The tension between Singh and his cabinet colleague had come out in the open in May when the chief minister blamed Sidhu for "inept handling" of the Local Government Department, claiming it resulted in Congress's "poor performance" in urban areas in the Lok Sabha polls. The chief minister had said the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the party in Punjab but Sidhu's "failure" to carry out any development work had affected the party.

Sidhu, however, had said that his department was being "singled out publicly" and asserted that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a "performer throughout".