Chandigarh/ New Delhi: In a new twist to the ongoing crisis in the Punjab Congress, the party's state Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu surprised everyone when he suddenly announced his resignation on Tuesday.
Sidhu had been named PPCC chief in July this year by the party high command in the face of vigorous opposition by former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
After Sidhu resigned, Amarinder tweeted: "I told you so…he is not a stable man and not fit for the border state of Punjab," in an apparent dig at the party leadership.
In his resignation letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu wrote: "The collapse of man's character stems from the compromise corner. I can never compromise on Punjab's future and the agenda for welfare of Punjab. Therefore I hereby resign as president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress."
He put up his resignation letter on Twitter at about 3 in the afternoon leaving political circles in shock and surprise.
Meanwhile, former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar joined the Congress on Tuesday in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, saying the "country cannot be saved" without "saving" the oldest party.
Kumar addressed a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi along with Independent Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani who too extended his support to the Congress ideology and said he would contest the next Assembly polls on the Congress symbol.
Asserting that it is detrimental to a country's interests if the Opposition is weakened as those in power become authoritarian, Kumar, who quit the Communist Party of India (CPI), described the Congress party as a "big ship" and said the small boats will survive only when the Congress is saved.
"I have decided to join the country's oldest and most democratic party because I feel along with the lakhs of youths that if the Congress is not saved, the country will not be saved," he said.
Both Kumar and Mevani earlier joined Rahul Gandhi in garlanding the statue of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh near ITO to mark the martyr's birth anniversary. Kumar, who was flanked at the press conference by Congress leaders K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Pawan Bansal and Hardik Patel, said the country is "in danger" and "we need the courage of Bhagat Singh, equality of Ambedkar and unity of Mahatma Gandhi".
He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as "Govinda of our times who changes his clothes often".
"I joined the Congress party because I feel it is not only about some people but is an idea and the country needs to ponder over its present and future," he said. Mevani said he is not joining the Congress due to "technical reasons" as he is still an Independent MLA, but announced that he will contest the next Gujarat election on the Congress symbol and will participate in all Congress activities and campaign for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls.
"My foremost responsibility is to save our Constitution, our democracy and our Idea of India, as they are all under attack today. I will fight with Congress symbol in 2022 and will participate in all Congress campaigns," he said.
Mevani is a lawyer-activist and a former journalist. Mevani's entry into the Congress comes at a time when it is wooing the Scheduled Castes community after handpicking the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Congress crisis deepened further in Punjab with minister Razia Sultana resigning from the Cabinet on Tuesday, hours after Sidhu's resignation.
Sultana said in her resignation letter that she was quitting "in solidarity with Navjot Singh Sidhu". Just hours back she was given Water Supply and Sanitation, Social Security, Women and Child Development, Printing, and Stationery departments in the new Punjab Cabinet under Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Sultana's husband Mohammed Mustafa became Sidhu's chief strategic adviser when the latter was appointed Punjab Congress chief in July.
Earlier, Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal, who was made Treasurer of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee soon after Sidhu took over, also put in his papers.
Sources said that some other office bearers of the Congress appointed by Sidhu may also resign.
Although Sidhu became inaccessible to the media after the development, sources close to him revealed that the cricketer turned politician was unhappy with certain appointments made by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, including that of senior advocate Amar Preet Singh Deol as Advocate General of the State.
Sources said that Sidhu was also not in favour of the inclusion of Rana Gurjit Singh and Bharat Bhushan Ashu in the Cabinet.
Sources further added that Sidhu is opposed to Deol's appointment as advocate general since the latter had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who is being investigated for his alleged role in the killing of two Sikh protesters in Behbal Kalan in 2015 when the SAD-BJP combine was in power in the state.
While Sidhu was opposed to Rana Gurjit Singh's entry into Cabinet because his name was involved in pocketing mining contracts in the name of his employees, the cricketer-turned-politician had a long-standing feud with Ashu.
Sidhu's bete noire and former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, his arch-rival, was among the first to react.
Amarinder is presently in Delhi, days after his unceremonious exit from the government. His visit is "personal" and there is "no need for speculation", the former Punjab Chief Minister's media advisor Raveen Thukral tweeted on Tuesday.
Terming Sidhu's resignation "sheer drama", Captain Amarinder said the move suggested that his former Cabinet colleague was preparing the ground to quit the Congress and join hands with some other party in the run-up to the state Assembly polls.
"I had been saying all along that this man is unstable and dangerous, and cannot be entrusted with the task of running Punjab," a press release quoted him as saying. It added that Sidhu had also proved to be absolutely incompetent during his stint as a minister in his government.