The Congress on Monday suspended its Punjab leader, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, for making the controversial remark "Rs 500 crore for chief minister's chair," which landed the party in trouble.
In a statement, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said, "Navjot Kaur Sidhu is hereby suspended from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect." Navjot Kaur is the wife of former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.
During a press briefing on Saturday, Navjot Kaur said her husband, Navjot Singh Sidhu, will return to active politics if the Congress declares him as the party's chief ministerial face in Punjab. "We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat...but do not have Rs 500 crore which we can give to sit in the chief minister's chair," Kaur said. Kaur's comments landed Congress in trouble, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party targeting the party with corruption claims.
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However, Kaur later clarified that a twist had been given to her "straight comment". "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," Kaur tweeted on Sunday.
The BJP and AAP claimed that her comments exposed the "ugly truth" of how the Congress functions, and the "money bag politics" it indulges in.