Punjab Congress ousts Navjot Kaur Sidhu a day after her explosive Rs 500-crore CM claim
PTC Web Desk: The Punjab Congress plunged into fresh controversy on Monday after party chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring suspended former MLA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu from the primary membership of the party. The suspension came hours after her explosive allegation that becoming Chief Minister in Punjab required “a suitcase of Rs 500 crore”.
Instead of calming the situation, she escalated matters further in a television interview on Monday, alleging that Raja Warring himself had “sold a councillor ticket for Rs 5 crore.” Her fresh charge intensified the internal crisis in the Punjab Congress, prompting swift disciplinary action late in the evening.
Dr Najot Kaur Sidhu, wife of former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, claimed that infighting within the party was spiraling out of control. She alleged that senior leaders, including former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Raja Warring, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and Partap Singh Bajwa, were all aspiring to be chief ministerial candidates, and were “destroying the party from within” in the race for power.
This, she claimed, was the primary reason her husband was being sidelined. According to her, Navjot Singh Sidhu would return to active politics only if the Congress declared him its CM face.
Randhawa hits back, questions Sidhu’s own rise
Former Deputy Chief Minister and MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa issued a strong rebuttal, even targeting Navjot Sidhu’s late father. Randhawa asked Dr Navjot Kaur how many rupees her husband paid to become “No. 2 minister” in the previous Congress government, and how much was spent to secure the post of Punjab Congress chief. He also questioned whether Sidhu’s father became Advocate General by paying money.
Randhawa accused the Siddus of weakening the party just months before the 2027 Assembly elections. “The Congress does not face danger from outside but from people like these,” he said, adding that for three and a half years, workers struggled on the ground while some leaders reappeared only close to elections.
Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu attempts clarification, then faces suspension
Earlier in the day, she attempted to soften her original remark, claiming her statement about Rs 500 crore had been “distorted.” She said she merely meant that her family did not have the financial resources that “other parties” might demand in exchange for projecting a CM candidate. However, the Congress high command took serious note of her comments.
- PTC NEWS
