'Punjab polls under Navjot Singh Sidhu' remark by Harish Rawat 'baffling', says Sunil Jakhar

The simmering tension within the faction-ridden Punjab Congress resurfaced on Monday, with former Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) chief Sunil Jakhar publicly lashing out at All India Congress Committee general secretary incharge Harish Rawat for indicating that state Congress unit chief and Priyanka Vadra-nominee Navjot Singh Sidhu could be the party's poll mascot alongside the new chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

"On the swearing-in day of Charanjit Channi as chief minister, Mr Rawat's statement that 'elections will be fought under Sidhu', is baffling. It is likely to undermine the chief minister's authority but also negate the very 'raison d'etre' of his selection for this position," Jakhar said in a post on microblogging site Twitter.

Earlier, Rawat had responded to a media query as to who would be Congress chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls by saying, "It will be decided by the Congress president, but given the circumstances, the election will be fought with the chief minister's cabinet under the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, whose chief is Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is very popular."


The incident prompted the Congress' political opponents to allege that the party had appointed a Dalit as Punjab CM only till the polls. Later, Congress leaders swung into damage control mode, saying the polls will be fought under the leadership of the Gandhis, the CM and the PCC chief.