What about Navjot Sidhu's 'santra-tehni' dig at 'fanboy' Bhagwant Mann

What about Navjot Sidhu’s ‘santra-tehni’ dig at ‘fanboy’ Bhagwant Mann

“Statistics are like mini skirts, what they reveal is inconsequential, what they hide is crucial,” Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said as a cricket commentator once.

Sidhu and Sidhuisms are inseparable. So are his wit and temperament issues.

Both the sides of coin Sidhu came together when the Congress leader took a dig at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday.Â

His reference to “santra and tehni” wasn’t lost on people who were quick to connect it with a dialogue from Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.

Navjot Singh Sidhu also attached an old video of Bhagwant Mann, where he is seen admiring the former cricketer like a fanboy.

But what is the latest bat swinging all about? Why did Sidhu need to get on a wicked pitch? Moreover, what is the whole ‘santra-tehni’ all about?

NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU AND ‘GANGS OF WASSEYPUR’

The remark by Manoj Bajpayee at a Dhanbad police station in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ has been used ad nauseam to show someone their place. The film popularised and immortalised those lines.

A crossover of Sidhu and the Wasseypur scene was seen on social media on Friday.

The former Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, posted a 2020 video of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, where Mann said, that if Sidhu joined the Aam Aadmi Party, he would be the first one to welcome him.

“Brother Bhagwant, no matter how big the orange grows, it remains under the twig only,” Sidhu’s post in Hindi was translated by X.

A sentence that would instantly ring a bell with fans of Gangs of Wasseypur.Â

 

“Navjot Singh Sidhu wanted to say something else to Bhagwant Mann, but then he said orange through gestures. The public has already understood the meaning of orange and twig,” wrote political commentator Praveen on X.

The use of ‘santra’ cut in another way as well.Â

A user was quick to post a probable meaning behind the ‘santra’ jibe.

“You mean this santra”, he posted, along with a bottle of country liquor. In north and west India, country liquor is often referred to as ‘santra’.

Politicians have often attacked Bhagwant Mann over his drinking issues.

In 2021, Bhagwant Mann was deplaned when he was boarding a flight back to India from Germany as he was “too drunk to walk”, claimed his political opponents. Mann and his party refuted those allegations.

In recent years, Mann has also been accused of showing up drunk in Parliament and even at a gurdwara.

“Can a person still be alive if they have been drinking day and night for the last 12 years? No. So is my liver made of iron?” Bhagwant Mann countered in an interview.

But why did Navjot Singh Sidhu take the ‘santra-tehni’ jibe at Bhagwant Mann in the first place?

WHY NAVJOT SIDHU ATTACKED BHAGWANT MANN?

Sidhu’s sharp but subtle reaction comes days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took a dig at the Congress leader, calling him a “useless turncoat” who was a “liability” for every party he joined.

n the 2020 video, which Navjot Sidhu shared with his post, Bhagwant Mann was heard saying, if Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu decided to join the AAP, he would be the first to welcome him.

“Navjot Sidhu was my judge on the Laughter Challenge. Nobody could ever be bigger than their parents and role models. He is a damn honest and a clean person,” Mann said in the 2020 video.

“I used to be a Sidhu fan from his cricketing days. When Sidhu used to open for India with K Shrikant and got out, I used to turn off the TV saying, what’s there to watch now, My guy got dismissed,” Mann is seen saying like a fanboy in the video.

“He is still a damn honest person. I am still his fan and will continue to be,” Bhagwant Mann added, hinting at an open door for Navjot Sidhu.

Mann’s remarks had come amid speculation that the AAP was trying to woo Congress minister Navjot Sidhu ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls. Mann also said he had made an offer to Sidhu to join the Aam Aadmi Party.

However, Navjot Singh Sidhu never joined the AAP and Bhagwant Mann became the Punjab Chief Minister after the 2022 assembly polls.

However, Sidhu’s purpose of the post was an attempt to show Bhagwant Mann his place.

Though witty, the attack on Mann might have reflected some other issue of the Congress leader, who has recently come out after serving a 10-month jail term in a 1988 road-rage case.   Â

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