Taking his face-off with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to the next level, Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday exhorted the people in Bathinda to defeat those “who are playing a friendly match”.
He apparently towed the line of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, who had recently alleged that SAD chief Sukhbir Badal and Amarinder had made a pact to ensure victory of each other’s wives from Bathinda and Patiala, respectively.
Fighting political foes, Sidhu virtually trained his guns at his party “friends” by talking about the “friendly match”. Without naming anyone, Sidhu asked the voters to step in and defeat the “politics of connivance”.
“I saw my mother in a dream today. She said, jholiya adniya band kar de, hun ta kehan da sama aa gaya, saada haq aithe rakh (Stop begging as it is time to stand up for your rights). They’ve ruined our honour. Bhajj 75:25 waleya, bhaj Badla bhaj....ke Sidhu aunda hai, kursi khaali kar (Run those having a share of 75:25, run Badal run....here comes Sidhu, vacate the chair).
They are practising the politics of connivance and only you, the voters, can teach them a lesson,” said Sidhu while addressing a gathering at Arya Samaj Chowk in Bathinda in support of Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
People were left wondering as to whom Sidhu was referring to in his “75:25” remark. He said he would like to ask the people in Bathinda, “Who is bigger? Justice Ranjit Singh Commission or the SIT? Then why didn’t they lodge the FIR against the Badals?”
In a veiled reference to Amarinder’s remark that he would resign if the Congress is “wiped out” in the election, he said, “Someone would resign if the party didn’t win election, but I say I would resign if the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib is not avenged.”
He said, “I am here to avenge the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. I had earlier quit the Rajya Sabha and will not hesitate to resign from the Punjab cabinet if the Badals are not booked for the sacrilege.”
Earlier, addressing a gathering in Lambi, Sidhu said, “Thok deyo ohna nu jihna ne be-adabi kiti. Jihna de 75:25 hisse, ohna nu vi thok deyo.”
He exhorted the people to “decimate” the Akalis who “had ruined the state while giving a free run to sand, liquor and transport mafias”.