Cat is out of the bag: Puri on Amarinder-Sidhu row

Chandigarh, May 21 (IANS) Union Minister and BJP candidate from Amritsar, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Tuesday took a jibe at the ongoing war of words between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying, "...the cat is out of the bag".

"All along the campaign one could sense an unease in their ranks. Now the cat is out of the bag!" he tweeted.

Along with the tweet, he tagged a post that talked about how Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was facing the ire of his party colleagues.

According to reports, Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot on Monday asked Sidhu to resign from the state Cabinet if he could not work with Amarinder Singh.

The reprimand came a day after the Chief Minister himself publicly criticised Sidhu for damaging Congress' poll prospects with his ill-timed comments against him and the party leadership in the state.

"If he was a real Congressmen, he should have chosen a better time to air his grievances instead of just ahead of voting in Punjab," said the Chief Minister in an informal interaction with reporters here.

Sidhu had accused the Chief Minister of being responsible for the denial of ticket to his wife Navjot Kaur from Chandigarh.

During the campaigning, he also tried to corner his own government by questioning why no criminal case was lodged against former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and former deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal in connection with the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing incidents.

"It was not his election alone but that of the entire Congress. It is for the high command to decide on any action against Sidhu, but the Congress, as a party, does not tolerate indiscipline," Amarinder Singh said.