A minister and three Congress leaders, considered close to Navjot Singh Sidhu, stepped down from their posts delivering a big blow to the Congress high command that was hoping of resolving the tussle between Sidhu and captain Amarinder Singh after Navjot was appointed as Punjab Congress president ahead of the Assembly elections early next year.
The party wants to give time to Sidhu, but if he does not agree, then strict steps can be taken, the sources said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Tuesday asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers after the party's drubbing in the recently held Assembly polls in these states.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Garg had questioned Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh's criticism of Pakistan while Mali gave a controversial remark on Kashmir.
Jakhar, who is not an MLA, is believed to be close the top leadership and is considered a prominent Hindu face of the party.
The cricketer-turned-politician thanked the party leadership for appointing him head of the Punjab unit and said he would work with every 'member of the Cong family' to fulfil the 'Jittega Punjab' mission and strengthen the party's organisation in the state.
Sidhu had replaced Sunil Jhakhar as PCC chief in July this year.
She praised the chief minister for leading the party to "many victories" and taking Punjab on a "road to progress".
Sidhu, who had been attacking the AAP-led government in the state over various issues including the law and order situation, said Punjab's resurrection was possible only with a collective effort.
Amid the factional feud in the Punjab Congress, Sidhu will be meeting All India Congress Committee general secretary Harish Rawat and senior party leader K C Venugopal on October 14 for a discussion on organisational matters related to the party's state unit.
Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be two deputies to Punjab's Chief Minister-designate Charanjit Singh Channi, said party leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday skipped a meeting held by newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring with several party leaders from Amritsar.
"Reports of @sherryontop (Sidhu) seeking time to meet @capt_amarinder are totally false. No time has been sought whatsoever. No change in stance... CM won't meet #NavjotSinghSidhu till he publicly apologises for his personally derogatory social media attacks against him," Thukral tweeted.
The top Congress leadership has not accepted Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation and adopting a wait and watch policy.
Navjot Singh Sidhu quit as the Punjab PCC chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
In a letter to Gandhi, Amarinder Singh is learnt to have mentioned that there could be an adverse impact on the party's prospects in the upcoming and crucial 2022 assembly polls by ignoring the old guard and other senior party leaders representing Hindu and Dalit communities, sources said.
Amid the ongoing rift in the Punjab Congress unit, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has called a meeting of the state's Congress Legislative Party.
"Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat is my good friend but who gave him the right to take such a big decision about Punjab at his level? What is the meaning of Captain's leadership now after the Kharge committee's decision to contest elections under Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi?" Congress MLA Pargat Singh said.
Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Nagra and Rana Gurjit Singh are likely to be included in the cabinet, according to the sources.
A few former MLAs, considered to be his loyalists and a few supporters, turned up at Sidhu's residence in Patiala Friday morning to extend moral support to him.
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
Seven Congress legislators and three Aam Aadmi Party MLAs who recently switched over to the ruling party also said Navjot Singh Sidhu was a celebrity and was no doubt an asset to the party but condemning and criticising his own party and government in public has only created a "rift in the cadres and weakened it".
Amarinder Singh, who was removed as Congress Punjab unit chief, said he would have suggested a different name to replace him had he been consulted.
Expressing concerns over another round of crisis in the Punjab unit of Congress, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari said that he is 'extremely distressed' after Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation as party's state unit chief and claimed that the only people who are happy with what is going on in the border state is the 'deep state of Pakistan.'
Channi also said the party is supreme and the government follows the party's ideology.
News about rebels raising their head in Samana, Hoshiarpur, Baranala and Sangrur are pouring in consistently.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agreed to set up a 10-member strategic policy group to ensure better coordination between the party and the state government and expedite implementation of various government programmes.
With Charanjit Channi's selection as Punjab CM, the Congress has got its opponents thinking seriously about their next move, notes Sanjeev Nayyar.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and S K Kaul allowed the review plea filed by the victim's family on the issue of the sentence awarded to Sidhu.
The decision has come days after Bajwa and another Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Shamsher Singh Dullo, sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged illegal liquor trade in the state following the hooch tragedy that claimed over 100 lives.
"Sidhu could not manage a thing. I know him very well. Don't think that he is some sort of magic word for Punjab. He is going to be a disaster," he said.
Sidhu and Amarinder Singh has been at loggerheads for the past some time, with the Amritsar (East) MLA recently attacking the CM over the desecration cases.
The cause of the accident was the narrow bridge near the canal.
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
'If the Congress wants to keep the ship afloat, it will have to bury the differences.'
After taking charge at the state Congress headquarters, the cricketer-turned-politician said there was no difference between an ordinary worker of the party and its state unit chief.
Any decision taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be acceptable to all, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday as talk of Navjot Singh Sidhu being appointed chief of the party's state unit despite his oft-stated reservations gathered force.
Vice Chancellor of Jamia Milia university and a seasoned bureaucrat Najeeb Jung was on Monday appointed as the new Lt Governor of Delhi while former Delhi Police Commissioner K K Paul was made Governor of Meghalaya.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances