'Credibility, thy name is…': Sidhu's praise for top leader after 'mentor' Rahul

Navjot Singh Sidhu news: Congress leader and ex-Punjab minister spent 10 months in Patiala Jail in the 1998 road rage case.

Updated on: Apr 7, 2023, 12:22:09 IST

By HT News Desk

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Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu - released from jail last week after serving a 10-month sentence in the 1998 road rage case - continued his 'meet-and-greet' of senior party figures Friday, calling and lavishing praise upon party boss Mallikarjun Kharge, of whom he said 'credibility, thy name is…' Sidhu also met Jairam Ramesh - the Congress' general secretary in-charge of communications

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu comes out of the Patiala Central Jail after serving his one-year sentence in a 1988 road rage case (released 2 months early), in Patiala on Saturday. (ANI Photo)

"Nine-times MLA, thrice Member Parliament, champion for the cause of (the) underprivileged, voice of truth… Credibility thy name is Mallikarjun Kharge," Sidhu tweeted with photos of the meeting.

"Met and took blessings of honourable Congress president… he brings positive vibes and good fortune for the party," he said.

The cricketer-turned-politician - whose fiery confrontations with ex-Congress leader and ex-Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh (and his successor, Charanjit Singh Channi) made headlines before the party's defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2022 Punjab Assembly election - met 'mentor' Rahul Gandhi and 'friend, philosopher, guide' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Thursday, after which he said his commitment to Punjab would not 'flinch nor back (down) an inch.

Sharing a photograph, Sidhu tweeted, “You can jail me, intimidate me, block all my financial accounts but my commitment for Punjab and my Leaders will neither flinch nor back an inch!! (sic).”

Sidhu - (in)famous for grandiose jabs at friends and rivals alike - has wasted no time in making headlines since his release from Patiala Central Jail; minutes after he walked free, he told reporters, "There is no such thing as democracy right now (in Punjab) … conspiracy is being hatched to bring President's Rule… Minorities are being targeted. If you try to weaken Punjab, you will be weak."

READ | Sidhu walks out of jail after 10 months: 'Rahul Gandhi name of…'

On Monday he slammed chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the AAP government of using gangsters to silence the voice of the opposition and critics - a reference to the killing of singer-turned-Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh - aka Sidhu Moose Wala - who was shot dead on May 29 last year.

READ | Sidhu at Moose Wala house, to take up law and order issue in Punjab

He has also trained his guns on prime minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, declaring a 'dictatorship' had taken over India and a 'revolution' - led by Rahul Gandhi - is needed.

READ | Out of jail, Navjot Singh Sidhu raps PM Modi, Punjab CM Mann

Sidhu was jailed in May 2022 over a road rage case in which Gurnam Singh, 65, died, and was released ahead of schedule after showing good conduct behind bars. Dr Navjot Kaur, his wife and a former MLA, had been diagnosed with cancer and operated upon while he was in jail.

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