AMN
Nearly a month after he abruptly resigned as the PCC chief of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said he has withdrawn his resignation.
Addressing a press conference, Sidhu categorically stated that he will assume charge the day Punjab gets a new Advocate General (AG). He also said that “posts do not matter when you are on the path of truth.”
Appointed as PPCC chief on July 19, Sidhu resigned soon after allocation of portfolios to ministers in the new government headed by Charanjit Singh Channi, who succeeded Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister.
In his resignation letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu had written: “The collapse of man’s character stems from the compromise corner. I can never compromise on Punjab’s future and the agenda for welfare of Punjab. Therefore, I hereby resign as president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Will continue to serve the Congress.”
One of the reasons behind Sidhu’s resignation was the Congress government appointing senior advocate APS Deol as its advocate general. This led to the government coming under fire from the Opposition, as Deol was till recently the counsel for former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, the police chief during the incidents of sacrilege and police firing on protesters. Deol had successfully got him blanket bail in four cases filed by the Punjab police.
The development comes days after Advocate General APS Deol resigned from his position and almost a month after the Punjab government sent a list of 10 names to the Union Public Service Commission for appointment to the post of Director General of Police.
Sidhu also questioned the state government led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi—a fellow Congressman—over investigations into sacrilege cases in the state and a report from a Special Task Force over drug trafficking in the state, and demanded to know what steps were taken to deal with them.
What’s the point of replacing Capt Amarinder Singh if the core issues are still unaddressed, he wanted to know, referring to his arch political rival.
“The issues on which Congress leaders won the elections have not been addressed. In politics, there are two ways of doing things—either give false promises to win elections or think about the welfare of the state. If the government does not have the power to make the STF report public, let the party do it.”
He however praised Channi’s government for lowering power tariffs in the state.
Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had quit his position as head of the Punjab government on September 18, 2021—days before Sidhu tendered his own resignation—accusing the Congress of humiliating him. He’s since quit the Congress and even announced his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress.