Amarinder blames Sidhu's hugging of Pak Army Chief for Congress loss

New Delhi, May 23: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday trained gun at Navjot Singh Sidhu after Congress' drubbing at the hands of the BJP in LoK Sabha elections 2019. Singh said people of India would not tolerate hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Sidhu, who had gone to Pakistan for Imran Khan's swearing-in, had hugged Bajwa and drew flak from all quarters.

Sidhu and Singh are not in best of terms. Sidhu's wife had recently blamed Punjab Chief Minister for her not hetting a ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh. Singh had also hit back at Sidhu and said that the cricketer turned actor 'probably wants to be the CM'.

"I have said since day one, Indians, especially servicemen, will not tolerate hugging the Pakistani army chief. Every day there is some ceasefire violation, our soldiers lose their lives. It is the Pakistani general who gives the order for these things and you cannot go and hug him," the CM was quoted as saying by ANI.

Singh said that Sidhu's actions had const the Congress, "I think it has cost us Bhatinda. Sidhu is the minister of urban development and we have lost in urban areas like Bhatinda and Gurdaspur. Cities are the places that Congress used to win. There is a reason because urban development is not there. I will take this issue up."

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife and Congress candidate Preneet Kaur won from Patiala while party nominee Ravneet Singh Bittu retained the Ludhiana seat. Kaur, a former Union minister, defeated her nearest rival Shiromani Akali Dal's Surjit Singh Rakhra by a margin of 1,62,718 votes, according to the Election Commission. In 2014, the seat was won by Dharamvira Gandhi on AAP ticket. Bittu retained the Ludhiana seat by defeating Simarjeet Singh Bains of the Lok Insaaf Party by a margin of 76,372 votes.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday conceded defeat and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the BJP for an astounding win in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP registered a mammoth win in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP was leading in nearly 305 seats and the NDA in 355. In another development Modi has removed Chowkidar from his Twitter handle. Chowkidar was used by Modi during the election campaign and the same was followed by all the BJP leaders and supporters.