Finally, Navjot Singh Sidhu appointed as Punjab Congress chief

July 18: Ending all speculations, cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed as the President of Punjab Congress. Interim Party chief, Sonia Gandhi appointed Sidhu as the chief of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee on Sunday. Congress also appointed four working presidents for the Punjab unit — Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra.

Earlier, a panel was formed to end the differences between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Sidhu ahead of the Assembly polls. The seeds of discord between Amarinder and Sidhu were sown back in 2017, when the latter joined the Congress and the CM saw him as an upstart imposed on the state unit by the Delhi high command. With tension escalating between the duo, CM stripped Siddhu of his portfolio in June 2019 following a downward spiral that saw the latter openly attack a fellow minister over an alleged scam.