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Punjab CM Channi agrees to Sidhu’s demand of A-G Deol’s ouster
Channi’s comments indicate that he has given in to Sidhu, who, on September 28, released a resignation letter on social media.
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu had his way on Tuesday with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi announcing that the state cabinet has accepted the resignation of advocate general APS Deol with immediate effect.
Channi made the announcement at a press conference where Sidhu was also present. The conference came after a meeting of the state cabinet. “The AG resigned a few days ago. The cabinet accepted it today. We will now send it to the state governor. Tomorrow, the new AG will be appointed,” he said. Deol was made the AG on September 27. The chief minister added that a new Director General of Police would be appointed from a set of names picked by the Centre from a shortlist of all IPS officers with an experience of at least 30 years sent to it by the state.
Channi’s comments indicate that he has given in to Sidhu, who, on September 28, released a resignation letter on social media. Last week, as it became clear that he would have his way, the former cricketer said he had withdrawn his resignation.
Channai appointed APS Deol as AG and Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as DGP after taking over as CM on September 20. As a lawyer, Deol represented former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police at the time of 2015 sacrilege incident , where violent protests broke out over desecration of the holy book of the Sikhs, and the police fires on protestors, killing two.
Deol submitted his resignation to the chief minister on November 1, but it was accepted only after Sidhu, at a press conference on Monday, again hit out at the AG and DGP, asking the state government to “(either) choose the compromised officers or the PPCC chief”.
Sidhu was made Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief on July 18 by the party’s central leadership, ignoring the misgivings of then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who resigned on September 18. He has since launched his own party and said he will have a seat-adjustment with the Bharatiya Janata Party and others in the coming state elections.
Last week, Deol accused Sidhu of obstructing the functioning of the state government and AG’s office as well as spreading misinformation to gain advantage over his political colleagues. “Sidhu’s repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the Punjab government to ensure justice in the “drugs matter and sacrilege case,” he said in a strongly worded statement.
Leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema said the present Congress government has got just four months, but its failure to decide its AG and DGP after six weeks reflects its total lack of stability. “This is happening with the office of AG at a time when such important cases are pending before the courts. We had objected to these two appointments from the beginning,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.
Punjab BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said Deol’s resignation has confirmed that Channi is a rubberstamp and Sidhu is calling the shots by exerting pressure on him.
