Senior Congress leader Harish Chaudhary, who is also AICC in charge for Punjab, has written to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking disciplinary action against former state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu for trying to “portray himself above the party”. In the letter dated April 23, which surfaced Monday, Chaudhary also attached a detailed note of Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring regarding Sidhu’s “parallel activities which were “not in the interest of the party”.
The move comes day after AICC disciplinary action committee recommended that senior Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar be removed from all party posts after he courted controversy by labeling former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi a liability and claiming that the party did not choose him as its CM face as he is Hindu.
In his letter to Sonia, Chaudhary noted that Sidhu relentlessly criticized the previous Congress government despite being asked not to do so. “He cannot be allowed to portray himself above the party and to set an example for others to breach the party discipline. It is, therefore, recommended that an explanation must be sought from Shri Sidhu as to why a disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against him,” wrote Chaudhary.
Chaudhary said he has observed that Sidhu “continuously criticized the functioning of the Congress government terming it corrupt and hand in glove with the Shiromani Akali Dal”. “As the party was fighting the elections, it was inappropriate for Sidhu to set such a precedent. In spite of my repeated advice to avoid such activities, he continued to speak against the government relentlessly,” wrote Chaudhary.
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