New Delhi: Former Congress MLA and Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, has been suspended from the party's primary membership, a day after she claimed that securing the chief minister’s post in the state requires a “₹500-crore suitcase.”
"Dr. Navjot Kaur Sidhu is hereby suspended from the Primary Membership of the party with immediate effect," read an official order of the state unit of the Congress.
Reacting to the party's action on Mrs Sidhu, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said, "When my grandfather was Chief Minister, such things didn't happen in the Congress party. But now, for the past few years, we've been hearing these things. That's why even people like me have left the party."
"I think the Congress party will never investigate this. Investigate within your party system how much money your PCC chief, Warring Sahib, takes... As a Punjabi, if they (Congress) claim to be honest, they should investigate... One of their CMs said that, in addition to sending money, we have to send socks and underwear for the staff of the Gandhi family. They simply make a list and we have to send those things from there. This is the situation," he said speaking to news agency ANI.
Earlier on Sunday, Mrs Sidhu triggered a major political storm in Punjab by claiming that it allegedly takes 'Rs 500 crore in a suitcase' for anyone to become the state’s chief minister.
Her explosive remarks, made while insisting that her husband Navjot Singh Sidhu would re-enter active politics only if the Congress projects him as its chief ministerial face.
BJP Reacts
The Bharatiya Janata Party seized on her comments almost immediately. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi called the allegations evidence of institutionalised corruption within the Congress, stating that corruption from leaders to cadres has overtaken the party.
Punjab BJP chief and former Congress leader Sunil Jakhar escalated the attack further, claiming he had heard that a former Congress chief minister allegedly paid Rs 350 crore to secure the position. Jakhar also used the moment to criticise the AAP government, accusing the Punjab Police of acting like uniformed gangsters and alleging a collapse in law and order. He urged voters to give the BJP one chance to restore accountability and stability.
