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'Have no ego': Punjab CM Charanjit Channi says party is supreme, invites Navjot Sidhu for talks
Calling Navjot Sidhu as the ‘head of the family’, Channi said, “I have spoken to him on phone and told him let's sit and talk it out.”
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday said he has spoken to Navjot Singh Sidhu and invited him to talks so that the differences can be ironed out. The chief minister's comment comes a day after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the post of the Punjab Congress president saying that he won't be able to compromise with ethics and moral authority. The resignation has not yet been accepted, Congress sources said. Calling Navjot Sidhu as the ‘head of the family’, Channi said, “I have spoken to him on phone and told him let's sit and talk it out.”
A day after the dramatic resignation, Sidhu on Wednesday issued a video statement in which he opposed the allocation of some portfolios in the Charanjit Singh Channi's new cabinet. Apparently referring to senior IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who has been given the additional charge of the director-general of Punjab Police, Sidhu said, “When I see those who gave clean chit to Badals six years back…such persons have been given the responsibility for delivering justice.” The appointment of APS Deol as the state's new advocate general has also apparently irked Sidhu.
However, Channi underplayed the crisis that the resignation letter might lead to at a time when he is setting up his new government and told reporters that he is not rigid about these appointments. Dismissing that Sidhu's move is to threaten the government, Channi said, “Party is supreme. The government takes note of the need of the party. Today I called him and told him we can sit and talk over the differences. If you feel there is anything wrong, you can point it out like you used to do before.”
“This is not a move to threaten the government,” he said adding that he has no ego over appointments but one thing that he will ensure as long as he is the chief minister is that there will be no corruption.
The unending crisis in Punjab Congress is a serious concern in front of the leadership especially as the state is going to the elections next year. Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said Sidhu's resignation from the post of the party chief is distressing. "As a Punjab MP, I am extremely distressed about happenings in Punjab. Peace in Punjab was extremely hard-won. 25,000 people, bulk of them Congressmen, sacrificed themselves to bring peace back to Punjab after fighting extremism and terrorism between 1980-1995," Tewari told ANI.
