July 14 (AZINS) Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu tweeted a letter in which he claimed he had resigned from Punjab Cabinet a month earlier.

He tweeted a copy of his resignation letter which states, "My letter to the Congress President Shri. Rahul Gandhi Ji, submitted on 10 June 2019."

However, Amarinder's office told news agency IANS that they hadn't received his resignation. Sending his resignation as Cabinet Minister to Rahul Gandhi is a tad bizarre and could be seen as a clear snub to Amarinder Singh. 

In his tweet, Sidhu has addressed Rahul Gandhi as Congress President, who recently resigned from the post. Why Sidhu chose this moment to tweet his resignation is not clear, particularly since Cong is already facing resignations in the states of Goa and Karnataka. In Karnataka, up to 16 Cong-JD(S) MLAs have claimed to resign while in Goa 10 out of the 15 Cong MLAs merged with the BJP.

In a portfolio reshuffle exercise on June 6,  Amarinder Singh divested Sidhu of the key portfolios of local government, tourism and cultural affairs and allotted him power and new and renewable energy sources ministry.

Sidhu was also snubbed when he was left out of the consultative groups which were formed by the chief minister on June 8, aimed to accelerate the pace of implementation of government's flagship programs.

Sidhu had met even met Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi last month in New Delhi and "apprised him of the situation" and also handed over a letter to him.

Earlier, the BJP has alleged that state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is drawing a salary and enjoying perks of his office even though he has not been attending to his duties for over a month.

BJP also claimed that the Punjab government is facing a "Constitutional crisis" after a Cabinet reshuffle. 

BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh has written a letter to Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore seeking his intervention in the "crisis" situation arisen "after Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh reshuffled Cabinet".

Speaking to ANI, Chugh said, "I have written a letter to Punjab Governor. There is a Constitutional crisis in Punjab today. It has been over a month since a minister who took the oath of office, has been absent, even though he is drawing a salary and enjoying the perks of his office."

He continued, "He has migrated; the feud between the Chief Minister and the minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has caused a constitutional crisis. I request the Governor to take action in Punjab's interest. If the minister does not want to work someone else should look after his department. If he is drawing a salary but not working, action should be taken."

In the letter dated July 6, Chugh wrote: "Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose department was changed during a reshuffle of portfolios by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, has not assumed his charge as Power Minister even though a period of more than a month has passed. It is very unfortunate that Sidhu is not fulfilling the duties he has towards the people of the state."

The BJP leader said that the people of Punjab and particularly the farmers were facing issues as Power Department remains unattended due to the absence of the newly-appointed minister.

"Since the minister has gone 'underground' and is incommunicado and has willfully chosen not to take charge of his new assignment, the work related to his department is suffering like anything."

Concluding his letter, Chugh requested the Governor to take cognizance of the matter as he was the Constitutional head of the state.

Sidhu, a former BJP leader who had joined Congress just ahead of 2017 Punjab assembly polls, has been at loggerheads with Amarinder.

Inputs from agencies