A day after being sworn in as a minister in th Punjab government, Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said if the chief minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had asked him to serve only as an MLA, he would have done so.
Allotted portfolios of local government, tourism and cultural affairs, and archives and museums, in the Congress regime, the cricketer-turned-politician also said he will continue doing his television show.
“There were a lot of discussions on Sidhu will become this and that... I am thankful to the people for their wishes and intentions. But I always kept away from this,” he told reporters after assuming office
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On speculation about him being made deputy CM, Sidhu said, “Had the Captain (Amarinder) asked me to serve by being an MLA, I would have done that too... I am happy with anything and everything that Captain sahib, Rahul ji and Priyanka ji think and deem fit for me.
I have come to put the state on the right track and not fufill any private interest,” he asserted. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were instrumental in bringing Sidhu to the Congress after his talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) broke up.
{{/usCountry}}I have come to put the state on the right track and not fufill any private interest,” he asserted. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were instrumental in bringing Sidhu to the Congress after his talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) broke up.
{{/usCountry}}While speculation was rife that Sidhu would be made deputy CM, he was placed third in the pecking order — behind Amarinder and Brahm Mohindra — when the CM and nine ministers took oath.