Premature release uncertain but hoardings ‘welcoming back’ Navjot Singh Sidhu already dot Ludhiana

On Tuesday, hoardings describing Sidhu as “Punjab, Punjabi atey Punjabiyat da raakha’ (Saviour of Punjab, Punjabi, and Punjabiyat)” were put up at prominent locations along Ferozepur Road.

A hoarding of Navjot Singh Sidhu with the writing "Punjab, Punjabi atey Punjabiat da Rakha" is seen near a hoarding of CM Bhagwant Mann near Bhai wala Chowk in Ludhiana on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

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Although the premature release of Congress leader and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu from the Patiala jail is uncertain, large hoardings “welcoming back” the former Punjab Congress chief have already mushroomed in Ludhiana city.

On Tuesday, hoardings describing Sidhu as “Punjab, Punjabi atey Punjabiyat da raakha’ (Saviour of Punjab, Punjabi, and Punjabiyat)” were put up at prominent locations along Ferozepur Road.

Also Read | His file gathering dust in CM’s office for a month, Navjot Singh Sidhu may not walk free on Jan 26

The hoardings, which also carried the image of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s media advisor Surinder Dalla, have “coming soon” written on them. While earlier it was speculated that Navjot Singh Sidhu might walk out of jail on January 26 after the jails department had recommended his premature release on the basis of good conduct, the file has reportedly not been cleared by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

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Dalla, however, said that even if Navjot Singh Sidhu is not released on January 26, the “wait is still not very long”.

“He has already completed eight months of his one-year imprisonment. Soon he will be back on the political scene and all his followers are eagerly awaiting his release. It’s just a matter of time now.

So we have already started preparations for his welcome. Hoardings will be put across Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Patiala to welcome him back,” said Dalla.

Navjot Singh Sidhu is currently serving a one-year term in a 1988 road rage case.

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He was sent to jail on May 20, 2022, after he surrendered before a local court following a Supreme Court order. His wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu recently participated in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Divya Goyal

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More

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