Capt Amarinder Singh is a fatherly figure

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, reportedly told by the Congress party that he cannot defy or speak against his boss Amarinder Singh, put out a clarification today calling the Punjab Chief Minister a “fatherly figure”.

“You don’t want to wash dirty linen in public. He (Captain Amarinder Singh) is a fatherly figure, I love him, I respect him, I will sort it out myself,” Navjot Sidhu told reporters in Rajasthan, where he is campaigning for the December 7 state election.

Sources say the comment followed the Congress’s stern caution to Mr Sidhu. The outspoken cricketer-turned-politician has been told categorically that Captain Amarinder Singh’s writ is important and he should not speak against him.

Last week, the Punjab Congress feud escalated as Sidhu insisted on travelling to Pakistan for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor, in what became his second trip across the border since he attended cricket legend Imran Khan’s oath-taking as Pakistani prime minister. Amarinder Singh had said that he had tried to talk Mr Sidhu out of it, but had been told that he had made a commitment.

Mr Sidhu, asked whether he had defied his Chief Minister — who is popularly known as “Captain” — had quipped: “My captain is Rahul Gandhi. He has sent me everywhere. Our captain’s captain is Rahul Gandhi.”