The Congress party on Wednesday released the list of its star campaigners who will be spearheading its poll campaign ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections scheduled on February 8. The list includes the name of 40 leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and former PM Manmohan Singh.
After dropping him like a hot potato during Haryana election campaign last year, Congress has once again decided to get Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s friend Navjot Singh Sidhu back as one of their star campaigners to take on AAP’s Kejriwal’ in Delhi.
Other names included: Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. The list also includes four film stars-turned-politicians, Raj Babbar, Shatrughan Sinha, Khushbu Sunder and Nagma. Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Randeep Surjewala have been named too, besides Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Though Congress had scored a duck in the last Delhi Legislative Assembly elections held in the year 2015, it remains to be seen what difference Sidhu’s campaigning would bring to the party which released its third list of candidates for the February 8 Delhi assembly elections yesterday. It has announced names of 66 candidates for the election to the 70-member Delhi assembly and it is likely to leave four seats for its ally RJD.
The motormouth Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been maintaining a low profile since he quit the Punjab cabinet in July last year over sharp differences with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Sidhu had quit after his portfolio was downgraded.
Sidhu had not campaigned much in the run up to the general elections too. When asked by media, he had cited a throat problem.
Sidhu has, however, always been in news for his fixation for his “friend and angel” Imran Khan. He has often heaped uncritical admiration for the Pakistan PM while turning a blind to the terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
In December last year, Sidhu was widely condemned for showering exorbitant gratitude for the Pakistani Prime Minister, thanking him on the behalf of ’14 crore Sikhs’ for conceiving the Kartarpur corridor project. Speaking at the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan, Congress’ motormouth leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had even compared Imran Khan with Alexander The Great.
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan prior to this, to attend Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony, had also drawn criticism from several quarters, especially the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. He had slammed him for hugging the Pakistani Army Chief General Bajwa while on his visit to Pakistan. Sidhu was also excoriated for his meek acceptance to sit beside the puppet ‘president’ of PoK during the swearing-in ceremony.
Earlier in March last year, in his unbridled love for Pakistan Prime Minister, Sidhu credited Imran Khan for his ‘kind act’ to return Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, ignoring the fact that they had no other way. Sidhu had then penned an open letter lauding “noble gesture” of Pakistan PM Imran Khan without holding him accountable for his country’s perpetual support to terrorism.