Sidhu says Cong needs to reinvent itself backs honest man Mann in fighting mafia
Chandigarh Apr 22 PTI Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said the party lost the Punjab elections because of the mafia raj that prevailed in the state and it now needed to reinvent itself while praising Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as a younger brother and an honest man Without taking names he blamed Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi – the two Congress chief ministers who ran the state in the past five years for failing to crack down on the mafia He said he will support Mann whose Aam Aadmi Party trounced the Congress in the recent assembly polls if he fights the mafia He is an honest man Sidhu told reporters at the sidelines of an event where Amrinder Singh Raja Warring took charge as the state Congress president Sidhu had resigned from the same post after the partys defeat in the Punjab elections I did not speak earlier but everybody has a right to speak and I say today that the Congress lost because of the five-year rule of the mafia raj he added Sidhu said he has always fought against the mafia Though he did not elaborate he has in the past criticised his own Congress government in the state over alleged mafias in sand-mining transport and cable TV sectors My fight was not against any individual It was against the system and against some persons who were eating into the state like termites he said His fight is for Punjabs existence and not for any post the former cricketer said Till the time politics remains a business it will not be respected he said When Punjab becomes mafia-free the state will rise he added Sidhu said he considered Mann his younger brother whom he will support in the fight against the mafia He is an honest man I have never raised a finger at him If he fights against it my support is with him even rising above party lines because it is a fight for Punjabs existence In a tweet later he said The Congress will have to reinvent to come back to power Honest faces with moral authority and integrity will be the propellers We are fighting a battle of existence for this great state Its either the Mafia or Honest people he tweeted Sidhu indirectly referred to Amarinder Singh claiming that the former CM had said it was his mistake to have not stopped the mafia Without naming him he alleged that the CM had patronised the mafia Sidhu said questions were also raised about those who came after him an indirect reference to Charanjit Singh Channi who was appointed CM next Ahead of the Punjab polls the opposition had targeted Channi after the Enforcement Directorate arrested his relative Bhupinder Singh Honey in an alleged money laundering case linked to illegal sand-mining Honey is a son of Channis sister-in-law For months before the elections Sidhu had been questioning the leadership of the then chief minister Amarinder Singh He also took swipes occasionally at Channi The AAP stormed to power in the state after winning 92 seats out of 117 while the Congress got just 18 Following the partys drubbing in the five states that went to polls earlier this year Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had asked the party chiefs there to resign PTI CHS SUN VSD ASH ASH
Chandigarh Apr 22 PTI Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said the party lost the Punjab elections because of the mafia raj that prevailed in the state and it now needed to reinvent itself while praising Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as a younger brother and an honest man Without taking names he blamed Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi – the two Congress chief ministers who ran the state in the past five years for failing to crack down on the mafia He said he will support Mann whose Aam Aadmi Party trounced the Congress in the recent assembly polls if he fights the mafia He is an honest man Sidhu told reporters at the sidelines of an event where Amrinder Singh Raja Warring took charge as the state Congress president Sidhu had resigned from the same post after the partys defeat in the Punjab elections I did not speak earlier but everybody has a right to speak and I say today that the Congress lost because of the five-year rule of the mafia raj he added Sidhu said he has always fought against the mafia Though he did not elaborate he has in the past criticised his own Congress government in the state over alleged mafias in sand-mining transport and cable TV sectors My fight was not against any individual It was against the system and against some persons who were eating into the state like termites he said His fight is for Punjabs existence and not for any post the former cricketer said Till the time politics remains a business it will not be respected he said When Punjab becomes mafia-free the state will rise he added Sidhu said he considered Mann his younger brother whom he will support in the fight against the mafia He is an honest man I have never raised a finger at him If he fights against it my support is with him even rising above party lines because it is a fight for Punjabs existence In a tweet later he said The Congress will have to reinvent to come back to power Honest faces with moral authority and integrity will be the propellers We are fighting a battle of existence for this great state Its either the Mafia or Honest people he tweeted Sidhu indirectly referred to Amarinder Singh claiming that the former CM had said it was his mistake to have not stopped the mafia Without naming him he alleged that the CM had patronised the mafia Sidhu said questions were also raised about those who came after him an indirect reference to Charanjit Singh Channi who was appointed CM next Ahead of the Punjab polls the opposition had targeted Channi after the Enforcement Directorate arrested his relative Bhupinder Singh Honey in an alleged money laundering case linked to illegal sand-mining Honey is a son of Channis sister-in-law For months before the elections Sidhu had been questioning the leadership of the then chief minister Amarinder Singh He also took swipes occasionally at Channi The AAP stormed to power in the state after winning 92 seats out of 117 while the Congress got just 18 Following the partys drubbing in the five states that went to polls earlier this year Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had asked the party chiefs there to resign PTI CHS SUN VSD ASH ASH
