Navjot Sidhu to remain as Punjab Cong chief, party to set up coordination panel soon

New Delhi: After much political drama, Navjot Singh Sidhu will continue as the Punjab Congress chief and a coordination panel is likely to be set up which will be consulted before taking significant decisions by the Punjab government in future, IANS reported.

There is a buzz that the three-member panel might comprise Harish Chaudhary, the Chief Minister and Mr Sidhu. An announcement is expected in this regard soon, a party source added.

As per reports, a compromise was on the cards yesterday after Sidhu met Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday (September 30) and this decision was reached after an over two-hour meeting at the Punjab Congress Bhavan.

Sidhu had resigned on Monday after disagreeing with the Chief Minister's choice for his cabinet, state police chief and the Advocate General.

Sidhu's advisers on Thursday said it was no more than an "emotional" outburst.

"The Congress leadership understands Navjot Sidhu and Sidhu is not beyond the Congress leadership. He is not Amarinder Singh, who never cared for the Congress and its leadership," he added.

Channi, the state's first Dalit Chief Minister whose selection is being hailed by many as a gamechanger for the Congress ahead of next year's state polls, had indicated that he was willing to consider suggestions. This morning, Mr Sidhu met him at the Punjab Bhavan.

Sources indicated that Channi is ready to accommodate Mr Sidhu on at least one point -- he may drop Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as Punjab police chief.

Sidhu had objected to him over the investigation into the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 - which was one of his biggest grouses against the Amarinder Singh government. Sahota was the head of a Special Investigation Team to probe the incidents of sacrilege.

Sidhu, who joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 elections after a stint in the BJP, had hoped to be Amarinder Singh's deputy after the elections. But Mr Singh had vetoed it. After his resignation, Sidhu's hope to step into his shoes was crushed as the party high command chose Channi for the job.

Sidhu was elevated to the post of the party chief after his year-long, bitter feud with Amarinder Singh -- then Chief Minister and the party's tallest leader in Punjab. His promotion came at the behest of Gandhis, who was seen as backing the cricketer-turned-politician through the bitter face-off.

"My fight is issue-based and I have stood by it for a long time. I cannot compromise with my ethics, my moral authority," Sidhu had said in a video statement yesterday. "What I witness is a compromise with issues, agenda in Punjab. I cannot misguide the high command nor can I let them be misguided," he had added.