Suspended Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu seeks security from Punjab CM

Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who has been suspended from the Congress following her "Rs 500 crore for chief minister's chair" remark that sparked a political row, has sought security cover from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

She also questioned the chief minister's "silence" over the issues she raised with Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, and accused him of "facilitating liquor and mining mafia".

Navjot Kaur is the wife of former Punjab Congress president and ex-India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu. Following the "Rs 500 crore for chief minister's chair" remark, the Punjab Congress suspended her from its primary membership.

In a post on X on Friday night, she said, "CM Bhagwant Mann ji, I think I need some security now, or else you will be responsible. And kindly answer why there is no response from your side on my issues raised before the Honourable Governor of Punjab? Why are you facilitating the liquor and mining mafia?"  Along with it, she also posted a copy of the memorandum mentioning issues which she raised with the Punjab governor in her recent meeting. In it, Kaur had alleged a "land scandal" being run by the Bhagwant Mann government.

She had claimed that some "bigwigs" had grabbed land holdings in the "protected forest land around the Shivalik hills and the CM was trying to regularise it."  In a meeting with the governor, Kaur had also alleged that law and order was "deteriorating" in the state.

She had also lashed out at former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who, in an interview with PTI Videos, said Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu were both "unstable".

Amarinder Singh had accused Navjot Kaur of lying, saying the Congress should remove her from the party. Sidhu should focus on cricket commentary, which he was good at, the former CM had remarked, adding that "politics is not in his nature."  In a post on X, Kaur said, "Captain Amarinder Singh, you have so many questions to answer which will not fit into my 100 tweets. Let's start with your files you wanted Navjot Sidhu to close, and he refused; City Centre case file, registration of land sharks' land holdings around the prohibited Shivalik range."  "Captain Amarinder Singh , I just wanted to add ; why didn't you clear Navjot Sidhu's files which were so important for Punjab's growth? Mining Policy, Liquor policy, Travel and Medical tourism, Amritsar Gondola project, Garbage Disposal Project, Trans piracy in Local Bodies by placing tenders on National sites, Film city projects, Water sports projects, Sports park in Ranjit Avenue, Culinary universities for Punjab?" she posed.

Singh resigned from the CM's post in September 2021 following a fight within the Congress's state unit. After Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi became the chief minister, Singh quit the party and formed a new outfit, which merged with the BJP in 2022.