This Article is From Sep 28, 2021

Punjab Congress Leader Navjot Sidhu's Political See-Saw: A Timeline

Navjot Singh Sidhu Resignation: The Punjab Congress chief quit not long after Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as Chief Minister and the party appointed Charanjit Singh Channi to the top post.

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Navjot Singh Sidhu Resignation: The Punjab Congress chief quit in a letter to Sonia Gandhi.

Navjot Singh Sidhu has quit as Punjab Congress chief just two months after he was appointed to the post by the party's high command in Delhi. Mr Sidhu's unexpected move to resign from the post has stunned the Congress.

Here's a timeline of Navjot Singh Sidhu's political moves:

  1. 2004:Navjot Sidhu fights the general election for the first time on a BJP ticket from Amritsar and wins.

  2. 2006: He quits Lok Sabha after conviction in a road rage case in 1988.

  3. 2007: He wins Lok Sabha by-election from Amritsar on a BJP ticket.

  4. 2009: He retains the Amritsar seat in the Lok Sabha election.

  5. 2014: He vacates Amritsar seat for party colleague Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha election. Arun Jaitley loses to Congress's Captain Amarinder Singh.

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  7. 2016: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government nominates him to Rajya Sabha. He resigns from the Rajya Sabha the same year. Speculations arise on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) willing to welcome Navjot Sidhu into the party.

  8. 2017: Navjot Sidhu joins Congress ahead of assembly election in Punjab. The Congress wins the state election. Amarinder Singh becomes Chief Minister. Navjot Sidhu is made Punjab's Tourism and Local Bodies Minister.

  9. 2019: Navjot Sidhu accuses Amarinder Singh of singling him out for the Congress's poor performance in the Lok Sabha election. Though the Congress won eight out of 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab, it won only 52 overall.

  10. 2019: The war of words between Navjot Sidhu and Amarinder Singh continues to escalate. Amarinder Singh says the younger party colleague wants to replace him as Chief Minister.

  11. July 2021: The Congress appoints Navjot Sidhu as Punjab Congress Chief.

  12. September 2021: Amarinder Singh resigns as Chief Minister. Charanjit Singh Channi becomes new Punjab Chief Minister. Speculations arise over Navjot Sidhu's missed opportunity of becoming Chief Minister, something that he was seen to be angling for since 2017 when he joined Congress.

  13. September 2021:Navjot Sidhu resigns as Punjab Congress chief.

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