Anarchy in the rudderless Congress was on display on Monday as Lok Sabha member and spokesperson Manish Tewari wondered whether the advisers of Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu deserved to live in India, let alone stay in the party.
The BJP was quick to grab the opportunity and sought clarifications from Rahul Gandhi.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had also warned Sidhu’s advisers against speaking on sensitive and strategic issues.
Sidhu had appointed Pyare Lal Garg and Malwinder Mali as advisers after taking over as the Punjab Congress chief.
Mali posted this message on Facebook: “Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris. Going against the tenets of the United Nations resolutions, India and Pakistan have illegally usurped Kashmir. If Kashmir was a part of India, then what was the need to have Articles 370 and 35-A? What was the special agreement with King Hari Singh? Tell people what were the terms of the agreement.”
In another post on the Taliban, he wrote: “Now it is their responsibility to protect Sikhs and Hindus. They will rule to improve the condition of the country, not like before.”
He had also posted in June a sketch of Indira Gandhi standing near a heap of human skulls and holding a gun. The caption read: “Every repression is defeated.” This was clearly a reference to the 1984 riots when hundreds of Sikhs were killed in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination.
Garg had questioned Amarinder’s criticism of Pakistan.
Tewari, who is close to the chief minister, took the controversy to a different plane with this acerbic remark: “Forget being in the party, do such people have the right to stay in the country?”
He followed it up with a terse tweet: “I urge Harish Rawat, general secretary in charge of Punjab, to seriously introspect that those who do not consider J&K to be a part of India & others who have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan leanings should be a part of Congress. It mocks all those who shed blood for India.”
The Amarinder camp was clearly exploiting this opportunity to pin Sidhu down after he succeeded in usurping the high moral ground by harping on the failures of the state government in delivering on the promises made to the people.
Even on Monday, he said: “The sugarcane farmers’ issue needs to be immediately resolved amicably…. Strange that despite the higher cost of cultivation in Punjab the state assured price is too low as compared to Haryana/UP/Uttarakhand. As torchbearer of agriculture, the Punjab SAP (state agreed price) should be better!”
The chief minister also launched a sharp attack on Sidhu’s advisers, describing their comments as “potentially dangerous” to the peace and stability of Punjab and the country. He asked Sidhu to rein in his advisers.
A rattled Sidhu called both the advisers to his residence in Patiala, after which Mali and Garg clarified that the comments were made in their personal capacity.
