'Only Big B, Sonia Gandhi, alone can silence me,' Sidhu said of the CM Face issue.

Navjot Singh Sidhu has been following this practise for years. First, a trip to the temple within his vast Amritsar mansion. Then offer homage in the modest gurudwara inside his home, matha tekna. 

Is he praying for divine intervention as his party prepares to name a chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab elections on February 20? Is he going to be disappointed? He tells sources, "Disappointments are meant to be burned, not embalmed." "I chose to back Bhai (Rahul Gandhi), and when he called to tell me we were losing, he said he needed my help. Okay, I said. "I will not support under any circumstances."

While Sidhu is elusive when it comes to whether he wants to be the chief minister, there are times when his optimism shines through. "I told Bhai that you needed to be decentralised," he said. You can't have the same system as everyone else. It must be altered. People demand change, and AAP provides it. However, because we have not displayed our complete Congress, people may not perceive us in a new light. Above all, we must be free of corruption. Anyone linked to corruption, the booze mafia, or the sand mafia, he claims, will be unable to effect change. 

In truth, Sidhu, who is sometimes viewed as a political newcomer, has made two points in his election campaign. The first is justice in cases of sacrilege, and the second is the fight against drugs. As a result, he has no qualms about going after his own party and CM at times. "I am not afraid," Sidhu says. "There is a mafia, and they are afraid of me."

Today, Sidhu will face Bikram Majithia, a member of his constituency whom he has been attacking. Sidhu, on the other hand, claims he is not afraid. "These people are gundas," says the narrator (goons). They are mafia members. They want me to leave because they know they'll be done if I stay. Majithia used to travel in an Altis, but now he drives a fleet of range rovers. The courts will take action against them. "They're all afraid of me," he claims.

Is his party, on the other hand, afraid of him? There is concern that if Charanjit Singh Channi is picked as the CM face instead of Sidhu, the state unit (Pradesh Congress Committee) may cause difficulty. "I'm used to people making assumptions about me." There have been numerous plots against me. This is a complement to me," Sidhu says. "They're all rotten eggs," says the narrator.

The Congress will find it difficult to overlook Channi's Dalit credentials. It might have repercussions for the party's ambitions to court the community ahead of the general election in 2024. And this is one thing that may work in Channi's favour. "You suggest in the context of Sunil Jakhar that one should not play caste politics," I question Sidhu. "Do you think they shouldn't do it even if it's a CM choice?" 

Sidhu's buried angst is revealed. "Do I really have to say this?" The Gandhis are extremely intelligent people. They're well-aware of what they're doing."

However, it is undeniable that Sidhu campaigns in isolation. Some of his fans believe he is being ignored by his own party and receives minimal infrastructure assistance. "This is not correct. I am the PCC's commander. He says, "I have nothing to be concerned about." 

However, Sidhu's political career is at a crossroads because of his bold, often harsh style of speaking, which has earned him enemies across parties and even inside his own party. Despite his claims that he would be content to be just an MLA, the man who has struggled to get to where he is and who also assisted the Congress in removing Amarinder Singh would definitely demand a pay cut.

Sidhu is popular for his one-liners or “Sidhuisms”. He tells sources, “No one can silence me. Only two people can silence me. One is Amitabh Bachchan and the other is Sonia Gandhi.”

While today Sidhu may be silent on his ambitions, his close friends say it could be the lull before the storm.

Also read : The 10-point agenda of Arvind Kejriwal is a carbon copy: Navjot Sidhu