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.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.
Amid crisis related to wearing of hijab in classrooms, an Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl was asked to remove her turban in the reputed Mount Carmel PU College here in accordance with the February 10 High Court's interim order. Some parents of the college also complained of being targeted after their daughters were asked to remove the hijab.
The brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, Majithia, who was sent to the Ropar jail during his judicial custody, applied for regular bail and his bail plea will come up for hearing on Friday.
