Navjot Singh Sidhu's political comeback hits ‘500 crore’ wall: Congress suspends his wife, what next for ‘guru’?

NAvjot Singh Sidhu seems to be all o'er — from cricket commentary to comedy shows, positive reels showing him shopping for kurtas — but he's been missing from the political set up of the us congress and Punjab. That changed over the past couple of days, when his likely return became all the news, only to result in his wife and namesake Navjot Kaur Sidhu's suspension from the party on Monday evening.Navjot Kaur invited a storm after she spoke of “conditions” that could bring Sidhu back into action in Punjab Congress, and dropped a bombshell: “We do not have the ₹500 crore required to get the CM chair."> ₹500 crore required to get the CM chair.”Just before this, she had said the cricketer-turned-politician could return if he was presented by the Congress as its CM face. Punjab is due for polls in early 2027, with just about 14 months to go.Sidhu, a former Punjab Congress president, has been quiet on this front, though it's not new for him to speak his mind through his wife and other associates.Navjot Kaur is a former MLA who shifted from the BJP to the Congress ahead of her husband before the 2017 Punjab election. Sidhu was a minister in Capt Amarinder Singh's government after the Congress won.But he has been away from direct political action — instead making a return to his throne as “guru” on Kapil Sharma's comedy show — ever since the party was trounced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2022 election.There's immediate context to his going missing from the scene then.Sidhu had co-engineered a revolt against CM Amarinder just before the 2022 election. He was seen as a possible replacement, but the party chose Charanjit Singh Channi instead. A massive loss followed — for Sidhu and the party — and the Congress saw an internal upheaval at the same time.One outcome, for instance, was Sunil Jakhar's leaving the Congress, reportedly miffed at not being made CM. He is now the Punjab BJP chief, trying to give the party its own footing in the state. Amarinder is also in the BJP, though awaiting a big responsibility.As for Sidhu, he had to serve a jail term of about a year around the same time, as he was convicted for assault that caused a man's death back in his days as a young cricketer in Patiala.He returned to public life, but not the boistrous political career he's had.The Congress is now led by a relatively young Raja Warring. Sidhu's wife is among party leaders who've hinted they feel Raja is not good enough — or “senior” enough.The buzz about Sidhu's return, however, did not start with the stormy “ ₹500-crore” statement by his wife.It started after he shared a photo with party leader Priyanka Gandhi on his social media handles about two months ago. The caption said, “Met my mentor, lighthouse and guiding angel …. Just grateful to her and Bhai for standing by in rough and tough times ….” Bhai (brother) here would refer to Rahul Gandhi, as the Sidhu couple often talks about “closeness” with the Gandhis.Navjot Kaur was speaking along these lines on Saturday too.She was asked if Navjot Singh Sidhu would consider returning to active politics. She said he was very close to Priyanka, and his return was possible if the party projected him as its chief ministerial face for the 2027 election. But she doubted such a possibility.Alleging intense infighting in the state Congress unit, and claiming that “five or six” senior leaders were already lobbying for the top post, she remarked: “We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat... But do not have ₹500 crore which we can give to sit in chief minister's chair.”She clarified there and then that no one had personally approached them for money.She was also asked about possibly joining any other party, to which she said he was open “if any party gives him that power so that he can improve Punjab".The video went viral on Facebook and Punjab circles at first, then snowballed into a major row by Sunday night. The AAP called the comments "an explosive revelation”, alleging that she was talking about paying to become the CM face of the Congress. The BJP's national spokesersons weighed into, saying she had “implicated Rahul Gandhi”. The attacks were focused on the Congress, not pointedly on the Sidhus.Within the Congress, too, there was disquiet. Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa questioned the Sidhus’ motives.Navjot Kaur tried to diffuse this on Monday. In a detailed clarification on social media, she wrote: “I am shocked to see the twist given to a straight comment, saying that our Congress party has never demanded anything from us. On being asked about Navjot becoming a CM face from any other party, I stated that we have no money to offer for a CM post. Listen carefully.”But her claim to nuance did not cut it with the party leadership, apparently. She was suspended by Monday evening by Raja Warring, who is seen as a loyalist of the Gandhis too.Sidhu himself remains quiet on this count — uncharacteristic for him in general, but not unusual when it comes to his politics.