Chandigarh, December 1: Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is in a tight spot after three of his cabinet colleagues demanded his resignation for mocking chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Rural Development and Panchayat minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Revenue and Rehabilitation minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi asked Sidhu to resign from cabinet if he doesn't consider Amarinder Singh his "captain".

“If he does not consider Capt Amarinder as his captain then he should resign on moral grounds from the cabinet and do whatever work is assigned to him by Rahul Gandhi,” Bajwa was quoted as saying. He said Sidhu should apologise to the chief minister. Sodhi also said that Amarinder Singh has the backing of other ministers as well. "Among the ministers I spoke with are Aruna Chaudhary and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot. We are all solidly behind Capt Amarinder Singh,” Sodhi said. Even Chameleon Doesn't Change Colours as Quickly KCR Does: Sidhu.

Sarkaria said Sidhu’s language while referring to the chief minister was “objectionable.” “Rahul Gandhi is our leader, he is our party’s national president. In Punjab, the government is headed by Capt Amarinder Singh, who is our captain in the state and we all work like a team under his leadership,” he said. “If Sidhu or anyone else has a problem with this and cannot work under his leadership, he must resign,” the minister said.

Sidhu is facing flak for his remark on Amarinder Singh when reporters asked him about going to Pakistan despite the chief minister's disapproval. “Rahul Gandhi is my captain. It is he who sent me to Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi is the captain of the captain (Amarinder Singh) also,” Sidhu had said a day earlier. He on Saturday backtracked on his claim that Congress president Rahul Gandhi was involved in his decision to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kartarpur corridor.

“Get your facts right before you distort them, Rahul Gandhi Ji never asked me to go to Pakistan. The whole world knows I went to Pakistan on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s personal invite,” Sidhu tweeted. He went to Pakistan to attend foundation laying ceremony of Kartarpu corridor that will connect the shrine in Pakistan to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Gurdaspur, across the border between the two countries. Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan had riled Amarinder Singh, who said he tried to dissuade Sidhu, following a grenade attack in Amritsar that left three people dead.

Since his return from Kartarpur, Sidhu has been criticised for lavishing praise on Imran Khan, who too showered special attention on him. He was also targeted over a photograph which showed him posing with Gopal Singh Chawla, the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee head who is considered pro-Khalistan. (With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 01, 2018 11:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).