Punjab Congress seeks search warrant for ‘missing’ Sidhu

The prolonged absence of BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu from his Lok Sabha constituency, Amritsar, has been the butt of jokes among political circles for some time now. But with no news of the celebrity MP, the Congress lodged a complaint with police saying that the MP “has gone missing and his whereabouts be traced as soon as possible in the interest of the public”.

The online complaint was filed by former chief parliamentary secretary Raj Kumar Verka and his supporters, who said their efforts to trace the MP for the past two months had proved futile.

The Congress also offered to put up posters at prominent locations in Amristsar to trace Sidhu.

Sidhu had tendered his resignation in July after differences with the party high command over the appointment of Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina as chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. Chhina is the Punjab BJP secretary and had unsuccessfully contested the Amritsar-west seat in the 2007 assembly polls.

Sidhu had opposed Chhina’s nomination on the ground that the latter had campaigned against him in the Lok Sabha election. Sidhu said the party had nominated Chhina to a coveted post to belittle him.

Since the party high command did not pay heed to Sidhu’s demand, he stopped attending Lok Sabha sessions and did not even visit his constituency.

Some state BJP leaders termed Sidhu’s action “snobbish”. A senior leader said party appointments were not the prerogative of an MP. “Sidhu should respect party discipline,” he said.

BJP sources said senior leader Arun Jaitley was trying to resolve the crisis, but had made no headway yet.

Sidhu is a popular face in Punjab and has been the sole BJP candidate from the state to win the Lok Sabha election.