Captain Amarinder Singh claimed he had got a message from Pakistan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu in his government because he was an old friend of Imran Khan, their Prime Minister.
After Amarinder Singh claimed on Monday he had got a message from Pakistan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu in his government in Punjab, the Congress said it was shameful on the former chief minister's part to raise such issues and added it was aimed at diverting attention in the run-up to next month's assembly polls.
Asked about Singh's claim, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "He (Amarinder Singh) has been our senior leader and has had a long association with us. But the way he is talking, I feel it is shameful. He has occupied a constitutional post and was chief minister, it is wrong to speak like this...to grab headlines and remain in the news...."
"Today the issues in Punjab are of farmers, of MSP (minimum support price of crops) and of unemployment. By raising such issues, one can only divert attention and that is what he is trying to do," the Congress leader said.
At a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Chandigarh, former chief minister Singh claimed he had got a message from Pakistan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu in his government because he was an old friend of their prime minister.
Singh, who has floated a new party after leaving the Congress and is fighting next month's Punjab assembly polls in an alliance with the BJP, said he was told that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan would be grateful if he could keep Sidhu in the government.
"I removed Mr Sidhu from the job, the man was totally incompetent, incapable and totally useless. In seventy days he didn't complete a file. I told him I don't want you in my government.
"Then several weeks later I got a message from somebody we both know, he knows and also I know. I got a message from Pakistan that the prime minister (Imran Khan) has sent a request that if you can take Sidhu in your cabinet, he will be grateful. Sidhu is an old friend of his. And if he doesn't work you can remove him," Singh said.
Sidhu was dropped by Singh from his cabinet during his tenure as the state's chief minister and did not enjoy good ties with the cricketer-turned-politician.