Navjot Singh Sidhu withdraws resignation as Punjab Congress chief months ahead of 2022 polls

In his resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on September 28, Sidhu had said, "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." However, Congress general secretary and former in-charge of Punjab affairs, Harish Rawat had recently said Sidhu would continue as the state party chief. He had stepped down from the post following a rift with Punjab’s new Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over his cabinet.

However, earlier this month, party MLAs said Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu, who have not been on the same page over certain appointments, have said they will work with each other and fight the upcoming polls together. The two met during a meeting of party MLAs and other senior leaders on November 2 evening to discuss strategy for the elections.

The meeting was held on a day former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh resigned from the Congress and announced the name of his own political party. Senior Congress leader and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary was also present in the meeting where the party sought to show that there were no differences between Channi and Sidhu and the party will fight the polls unitedly.

Sidhu’s announcement comes days after former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced his exit from the party and formed a new political party Punjab Lok Congress, months before the state goes to polls in 2022.

When Sidhu had resigned from his post in September, the former CM had taken to Twitter to take a dig at the Congress leader. "I told you so…he is not a stable man and not fit for the border state of Punjab," he wrote on the microblogging site. Singh had quit as the Punjab Chief Minister in September amid a bitter power tussle with Sidhu.