As a star campaigner of the Congress, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had addressed back-to-back rallies for 17 days during the 2018 Assembly polls for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

But during the ongoing Lok Sabha poll campaign, so far Sidhu is nowhere to be seen. He did not attend office for nearly three weeks. Officially, Sidhu maintains he underwent a dental procedure and was advised bed rest, but recent developments suggest otherwise.

While Sidhu was believed to have angered Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over a number of issues including his over-enthusiasm for good relations with Pakistan in order to facilitate the Kartarpur Corridor, the Punjab local bodies minister appears to have been forced by the Congress to cool his heels following his much criticised remarks post the Pulwama attack.

Sidhu was first not included in the list of speakers at the ruling Congress’ rally which was addressed by party president Rahul Gandhi at Moga on 7 March.

At this, a miffed Sidhu had made his displeasure known by stating that it was the first time after former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s rally in Amritsar in 2004 that he has not been allowed to speak. Sidhu was then Amritsar MP from his former party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“If I am not good enough to speak at Rahul’s rally, I am not good enough as a speaker and a campaigner. Whether I am invited to speak or not is something that is not in my control. But it has shown me my place and made it clear who all from the Congress will campaign for the party in the coming Lok Sabha polls,” Sidhu said.

This was despite Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar stating that Sidhu should have been among the speakers and not inviting him to speak was an oversight.

Sidhu’s non-inclusion in the speakers’ list was linked to the uproar over his remarks on Pakistan after the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir which led to his sacking from the popular “The Kapil Sharma Show” on television. Following this, there was speculation that the Punjab minister may not feature in among Congress’ star campaigners during the Lok Sabha polls.

And it has proved to be true. Some reports claim Amarinder Singh played a part in Sidhu’s removal from the state campaigners list citing adverse reaction the party may receive due to the latter’s remarks post-Pulwama attack and his friendship with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In another personal setback for Sidhu, his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu was denied a Congress’ Lok Sabha ticket for Chandigarh despite asking for it and even starting her poll campaign in the city.

While the Congress allotted the ticket to former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal who lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the Chandigarh seat to BJP’s Kirron Kher, the party didn’t give Mrs Sidhu the chance to contest from Amritsar either by nominating sitting MP Gurjit Singh Aujla from the seat.

This was despite the fact that Sidhu had represented Amritsar in the Lok Sabha thrice as a member of the BJP and currently represents Amritsar (east) in the Assembly. His wife too had represented the same constituency in the previous Assembly.

The cricketer-turned-politician appears to be paying the price for his perceived closeness to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and apparent cold war with Amarinder Singh who remains firmly in control of the government and party affairs in the state.

As Sidhu, who joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, has shown a hurry to chart his own course in the party and has given more weight to his closeness to the Congress president Rahul than paying heed to the CM, heightening tensions between Sidhu and Amarinder have been apparent for the past few months.

The differences between Sidhu and Amarinder came to the fore recently when the former cricketer had said that his only “Captain” in the party is Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

When asked about “Captain” (Amarinder Singh) disapproving his visit to Pakistan,, Sidhu had mockingly responded, “Which Captain? He (Amarinder) is a captain in the Army … but my captain is Rahul Gandhi. It is he who sent me to Pakistan.” The cricketer turned- politician added that Rahul Gandhi is not just his captain, but that of the entire party. Sidhu said he goes everywhere with the consent of his “captain”. The Punjab chief minister had earlier said that he had asked Sidhu not to attend the ceremony in Pakistan amid terror attacks in the state.

Besides his difference of opinion on relations with Pakistan, Sidhu is also miffed at lack of action against his bitter rivals, the Badal clan, over the alleged wrongdoings during the decade-long rule of the Parkash Singh Badal government.

While a probe is on to ascertain Badal’s role in firing on anti-sacrilege protesters in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, Badal family’s flourishing businesses, including transport, remain untouched much to the disappointment of Sidhu. Finding a few supporters, Sidhu remains on his own for now.