Sidhu Withdraws Resignation as Punjab Congress Chief, Sets Date to Take Charge

"I will assume charge when the new Attorney General will be appointed," Navjot Sidhu said at a press conference.

Navjot Singh Sidhu.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday, 5 November, addressed the media in Chandigarh and said that he has withdrawn his resignation as Punjab Congress chief, reported news agency ANI.

Sidhu had resigned from the position on 28 September and announced his decision in a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

"I will assume charge when the new Attorney General will be appointed. It was not a matter of personal ego but the interest of every Punjabi," he added on Friday, referring to his resignation.

Amar Preet Singh Deol had resigned as the Attorney General on Monday following repeated attacks from Sidhu. Deol had represented and gotten blanket bail for former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who was police chief during the incidents of sacrilege and police firing on protesters.

Addressing the press on Friday, Sidhu said that all was well between him and Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi.

"There's nothing personal. I speak to him for the state. I speak to him for all the good that can be done for the state. I have no differences with Charanjit Channi, not at all. Whatever I do is for Punjab. I stand for Punjab. Punjab is my soul. That's the goal," he said, according to ANI.

Tainted Officers Brought Back: Navjot Sidhu on Quitting as Punjab Congress Chief

In his resignation letter, Sidhu had written, “The collapse of a man’s character stems from the compromise corner, I can never compromise to Punjab’s future and the agenda for the welfare of Punjab. (sic)”

Later, in a statement issued a day after quitting, Sidhu had said that he has had no personal enmity with anybody and that his opposition was to the fact that the ones who protected the vested interests of certain politicians were being appointed to protect Punjab.

Referring to the appointment of Deol as Punjab's Advocate General, Sidhu said that the people who gave a clean chits to tainted politicians have been "rewarded."

"I have had no personal enmity with anybody till date, neither am I here to pick personal fights. My fight is for the issues of Punjab and I will stand firmly to fight for those issues," he had said.

(With inputs from ANI.)