Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday, November 5, said that he has withdrawn his resignation as Punjab Congress chief, over a month after he took the decision to step down from the post. “I have taken back my resignation,” he said. Making the announcement at a press conference in Chandigarh, Sidhu, however, said he will assume charge the day Punjab gets a new Advocate General (AG).
He had earlier expressed his reservations over the appointment of senior advocate APS Deol as the state's advocate general. Deol had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police six years ago during the incidents of sacrilege and police firing on protesters. Sidhu asserted that the offices of AG and DGP are crucial to take to logical conclusion the issues of Bargari sacrilege and drugs cases.
“The day the new advocate general (AG) is appointed, I will go to the Punjab Congress office. The day the panel for the appointment of a new DGP comes, I will go to the Punjab Congress office. It is not a question of ego. These (appointments to the two posts) are the means to achieve the goal in two most important cases,” he said.
Navjot Singh Sidhu had on September 28 resigned as the chief of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Sidhu had, however, said he would continue to serve the party. He had taken over as the state party chief in July this year. "The collapse of a man's character stems from the compromise corner. I can never compromise on Punjab's future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab," he wrote in the resignation letter.
Congress general secretary and former in-charge of Punjab affairs, Harish Rawat had recently said Sidhu would continue as the state party chief.