Sidhu blames choice of new AG, ‘tainted’ ministers for quitting

The curious case of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation as Punjab PCC chief within 10 days of his bête noire Amarinder Singh’s exit as CM unravelled on Wednesday when he declared the new-look Congress government’s choice of advocate general and the re-entry of “tainted” ministers into the restructured cabinet forced his hand.
“I am willing to sacrifice anything, but will stick to my principles. We got rid of the system of tainted officers and ministers, and they cannot be brought back to put the same system in place,” Sidhu said in a video message from his Twitter handle. “My political journey of 17 years was to take a stand on the politics of principles… My fight is for Punjab and I did not hanker after any posts. There was never any compromise, I did it as my duty.”
Sidhu accused the Charanjit Singh Channi government of “already compromising” on key issues. “People who gave a clean chit to the Badals six years back and inflicted atrocities on young boys have been given the responsibility of ensuring justice. Someone who secured blanket bail for an accused (former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini) has just been appointed advocate general. What sort of an agenda is this? Is this how we are going to reach our goals?”
Sidhu said he would neither misguide the Congress central leadership, nor allow anyone to do so. He vowed to continue fighting for truth “till my last breath”.
“Mein te adun, te ladun (I will take a stand and fight),” he said.
According to party insiders, the immediate trigger for Sidhu’s resignation was the inclusion of Rana Gurjit Singh in the Channi cabinet, besides APS Deol’s appointment as advocate general. Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota being appointed DGP and the home portfolio going to Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are his other peeve points, they said.
CM Charanjit Singh Channi said he had reached out to Sidhu. “I spoke to Sidhu sahib today over the phone and suggested that we discuss the issues on which he has objections…I asked him to come over and talk. The party president is the head of the family. The head should discuss issues within the family,” he told reporters. “If anybody has an objection regarding any appointment, I am not rigid on that. I don’t go into ego battles. Everything is being done in a transparent manner.”
On the controversy over the new advocate general being former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini’s counsel in cases filed against him, Channi said a team of lawyers led by a special prosecutor was being constituted to handle cases involving the state government.
While the Congress central leadership hasn’t accepted Sidhu’s resignation yet, the procession of ministers and other senior party members to his residence continued for the second consecutive day.
Cabinet ministers Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Pargat Singh met Sidhu at his Patiala home in the morning before returning to Chandigarh for a meeting of the council of ministers. Two other ministers spoke to Sidhu in the evening. AICC observer Harish Choudhary held a meeting with CM Channi to discuss the crisis triggered by Sidhu’s decision to step down.
In the event of the Congress leadership being unable to placate Sidhu over the next couple of days, the names of working president Kuljit Singh Nagra and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu are already doing the rounds in Congress circles as likely candidates to take over the reins of the state unit.