Chandigarh, March 16 (IANS) Days after facing humiliating defeat in Punjab from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday resigned from the post.
In a one-line resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu wrote, "I hereby resign as President (PPCC)."
The AAP came to power by sweeping the Assembly polls with a three-fourths majority as heavyweights fall by wayside.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign.
Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
He was locked in a high-profile contest with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia but faced defeat from the hands of AAP greenhorn candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur, who defeated him by a margin of 6,750 votes.
Low-profile hygiene activist Kaur, who believed in door-to-door connect with electorate, emerged as the 'giant slayer' by showing the door to two political heavyweights -- Sidhu and Majithia, who were busy in mudslinging against each other.
In 2017, cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu not only defeated his BJP rival Rajesh Honey with a big margin of over 42,000 votes but also played a role of a game-changer for the party by winning 10 out of 11 seats in Amritsar district, once the citadel of the SAD-BJP combine.
Sidhu is a three-time Amritsar MP from the BJP. In 2014 he "sacrificed" this seat for his 'guru' Arun Jaitley. Later he was adjusted in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP but not finding a bigger role in Punjab, he quit the party and resigned from Parliament.
A former captain of the Indian kabaddi team, Sandeep hailed from Nangal Ambian village in Shahkot. He is survived by his wife and two sons, who are currently in England, where he was settled.
All the Badals, led by five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the eldest candidate at 94 in fray for the 117-member Punjab Assembly, as well as their kin, on Thursday lost to AAP's greenhorns.
The top court said it has found Mallya guilty of contempt and punishment has to be imposed. It added that going by normal logic, the contemnor has to be heard, but he has not appeared before the court so far.
After the historic victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the oath-taking of the state's new cabinet would be held in martyr Bhagat Singh's ancestral village.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for its clean sweep in the Punjab Assembly elections, and assured the party of all possible help from the Centre.
While the bookies are betting on the basis of per seat in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, in Goa and Uttarakhand, they are betting on forming the government. In Punjab, they are giving the AAP 40 paise against a rupee, predicting a possible AAP government in the state.
