From Captain Amarinder Singh And Navjot Singh Sidhu, An Unconvincing Show Of Unity

Chandigarh: Amarinder Singh was emphatic today that newly-acquired Congressman Navjot Singh Sidhu is a prized member of his team. Though the party has not yet officially announced that Mr Singh, 74, and due to turn 75 on the day the election results come (11th of March, his birthday) is its Chief Ministerial candidate, he is the face of the campaign. When asked by NDTV where that leaves Mr Sidhu, a former cricketer, Captain quipped, "I am his wicket-keeper, I'll catch him in the slips" to suggest an elder-statesman like bond. Mr Sidhu, seated next to him in a red tie, turban and shirt, smiled and clasped him awkwardly around the shoulders, a pale version of the Punjabi jhappi.  

The body language speaks of the underlying tension between the Congress' two stars. Mr Sidhu did not use the press conference to dispel the notion that he is determined to be Deputy Chief Minister if the Congress wins the election. Nor did he answer the question put to him by me: "'You've had a number of captains playing cricket for India, but is Amarinder Singh your Captain here in Punjab?"

Captain, meanwhile, asserted that Mr Sidhu's joining the Congress was unconditional. The ex-cricketer used Sidhuism, too many for this reporter to relay, to dodge questions about his rank and standing within his new party.

The politicians didn't arrive together for the press conference in Amritsar, they left separately, and a planned joint visit to the Golden Temple was declared cancelled, though the official reason is that the leaders wanted to be available to party workers as applications to run for office are scrutinised by election officials.  

Captain is running against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the constituency of Lambi, turning the area into the most-watched precinct of Punjab. Mr Sidhu is running for the state legislature from Amritsar East, a subset of the larger Amritsar constituency that he  represented in parliament as a BJP leader.