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AMN / Chandigarh

Even as after prolonged deadlock, both Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh and new PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday announced to work as a team in the run-up to the Assembly elections, their body language on the stage and at the tea party at Punjab Bhawan preceding the installation ceremony had reflected a different story to tell.

New PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu stressed that Punjab’s “real issues” needed to be resolved. Speaking at his installation as the new Punjab Pradesh Congress chief, Sidhu gave a call to the Congress workers to empower the common man through the Punjab model envisaged by him.

Captain and Sidhu were seen together on the stage, indicating efforts by the party high command to put up a show of unity.

Sidhu and the four PPCC working presidents — Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Pawan Goel — assumed charge at the Punjab Congress Bhawan amid deafening sloganeering. The party headquarters was jam-packed. Roads leading to the party headquarters were lined with vehicles.

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Speaking at the event, the CM referred to his ties with Sidhu’s family. “When Sidhu was born in 1963, I was in the Army. When I left the Army in 1970, my mother asked me to join politics. She said meet Bhagwan Singh Sidhu (father of Navjot Sidhu). He helped me enter politics… When party president Sonia Gandhi told me that Sidhu will be the next Congress chief in Punjab, I said whatever the high command decides, I will abide by the decision,” he said.

Hitting out at his critics, Sidhu said: “I have no ego, I will work with all party workers shoulder to shoulder. The Congress stands united today, contrary to what the Opposition says.” He went on to add: “Farmers sitting in Delhi, the problems of doctors and nurses are the ‘real’ issues. Who is accountable for the deaths due to drug overdose? I will hold all of them accountable.”

Congress Bhawan jam-packed; roads to venue lined with vehicles; slogans during ceremony
CM recalls ties with Sidhu’s father; Sidhu hits out at critics

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