India's Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns from Punjab cabinet

Cricketer-turned-politician resigns amid rising differences with CM Amarinder Singh

Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned from the Punjab Cabinet amid rising differences with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, The Hindu reported on Sunday.

He took to Twitter to post his resignation sent to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on July 10. "I hereby resign as minister from the Punjab cabinet," read the letter as Sidhu did not assign any reason for quitting the Cabinet.

“Will be sending my resignation to the Chief Minister, Punjab,” he added.

 

My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019. pic.twitter.com/WS3yYwmnPl

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) July 14, 2019

Sidhu's issue with Singh came to a head after a Cabinet reshuffle on June 6 in which the former cricketer was stripped of the local bodies portfolio and given charge of power and new and renewable energy sources.

Sidhu had taken exception to being singled out “unfairly’’ over the party’s “poor performance” in the urban areas of Punjab in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

An ardent admirer of PM Imran Khan, Sidhu has been a supporter of peace between Pakistan and India and was a central figure at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor.

“I know him [PM Imran] for a long time … he is a brave, honest and empathetic man which made him join the tough field of politics,” he said in an interview with Express News after the ceremony.

Sidhu said it was miraculous that Kartarpur corridor had become a reality in just three months after Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa conveyed the big news to him during PM Imran’s inauguration in August 2018.