Navjot Sidhu is the chief of the Congress' Punjab unit (File)
A day after calling for the "public execution" of those accused of religious desecration, the Congress' Navjot Sidhu hurled a vile personal attack at Amarinder Singh, calling the former Punjab Chief Minister an "arrogant king" and accusing him of obsequious behaviour towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sidhu's comments come as Amarinder Singh - a Congress veteran of over 40 years - and his Punjab Lok Congress prepare to face the February-March election in alliance with one-time arch-rivals BJP.
"Captain (Amarinder Singh) said 'doors have been closed for Sidhu', but see today... he is sitting at home and is licking the feet of Modi," Sidhu was quoted by news agency ANI on Monday.
The unpleasant comment was a reference to Amarinder Singh saying, back in April, that he had 'closed my doors for Sidhu'. That was amid rumours the ex-cricketer was close to joining the AAP.
Amarinder Singh last week announced a deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP for the Punjab polls - a move widely expected since he quit the Congress. "The alliance will... 101 per cent win the elections," he said.
The same day the Congress faced an alarming exodus - as many as 22 leaders joined Amarinder Singh, whose early signs of influence will, no doubt, worry his former party and delight his new allies.
Sidhu's shocking comments today come a day after he said - in comments that were seen as encouraging vigilante killings - that those accused of religious desecration should be hanged in public.
The comments also broke a telling silence from politicians in the state - including Chief Minister Charanjit Channi - who rushed to condemn the two instances of alleged sacrilege but have stayed shamefully quiet over both cases of lynching.
This week, within 24 hours of each other, two alleged sacrilege cases were reported from Punjab - one from Amritsar's Golden Temple and another from Kapurthala.
In each case the accused was beaten to death. Only one FIR - on sacrilege - has been filed so far.
Religious sacrilege and desecration of religious texts is a sensitive issue in Punjab, with Sidhu having repeatedly hammered his rival, Amarinder Singh, and his own party, with the 2015 sacrilege case.
With input from ANI