Amarinder, Sidhu should sit together and resolve matter: Cong MLA Pargat Singh

Congress MLA Pargat Singh Wednesday said the stand-off between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu was "unfortunate" and that they should sit together and resolve the matter.

Sidhu, who had been at loggerheads with the chief minister and was stripped off key portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle on June 6, took to Twitter on Sunday, making public his June 10 resignation letter from the state cabinet addressed to the then Congress president.

"I feel both should sit together and resolve the matter," said the Jalandhar Cantt. MLA, who is considered close to Sidhu.

A former Indian hockey team captain, Pargat Singh said that the matter should not have reached this level and asserted that everybody needed to work for the progress and prosperity of Punjab.

Describing cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu as honest and upright, Pargat Singh told PTI that he had not spoken to him for the past several days.

Pargat Singh, along with Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur, had joined the Congress in November 2016. And later in January 2017, Sidhu came into the Congress fold.

Before joining the Congress, Pargat Singh was part of Awaaz-e-Punjab, an outfit floated by Sidhu after quitting the BJP.

Earlier this week, the chief minister had said if Sidhu did not want to do his job, there was nothing he could do about it. He also said he would take a call on Sidhu's resignation after going through the content of his letter.

On July 15, Sidhu said he had sent his resignation letter to the chief minister.

The tension between the two came out in the open last month when the chief minister blamed Sidhu for the "inept handling" of the Local Government Department, claiming that it resulted in "poor performance" of the Congress in urban areas in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Sidhu, however, had said that his department was being "singled out publicly" while asserting that he could not be taken for granted as he had been a "performer throughout".

On June 6, Sidhu was divested of the Local Government and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Departments. He was allotted the power and new and renewable energy portfolio.