The Congress’s Punjab tangle is not showing any signs of being smoothened out. A day after party firefighters in the state signalled that a peace formula was in the works to bring down the temperatures between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu, tension seemed to have gone up a few notches on Friday.

Sidhu was back in Delhi where he met the Gandhis once again while the CM held a meeting of MLAs in Punjab.

Amarinder Singh, according to sources quoted by news agency PTI, has once again opposed any key post (read PCC chief) being given to Navjot Sidhu. The CM’s contention reportedly being that Punjab, with a sizeable Hindu population, must have a PCC chief from that community.

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When asked about  problems cropping back up in the state unit, general secretary in-charge of Punjab Harish Rawat said, “If there is any communication gap, I am here to take care of it.” This was a far cry from the optimism he displayed on Thursday, saying a formula was in the works and that Amarinder Singh and Navjot Sidhu will work together.

Both Singh and Sidhu held parallel meetings in Chandigarh with their loyalists. While the Chief Minister met some party MPs, MLAs and ministers, Sidhu is learnt to have met Punjab ministers Sukhjinder Randhawa and Tript Rajinder Bajwa, and some MLAs close to him at Randhawa’s residence, reports PTI.

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Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari also backed the idea of a Hindu face for the PCC chief’s post while giving details of the composition of the state’s population.

“Punjab is both progressive and secular… but balancing social interest groups is key. Equality is the foundation of social justice!” he said in the tweet. He detailed Punjab’s demography mentioning that Sikhs constitute 57.75% of the population while Hindus and Dalits constitute 38.49 and 31.94% respectively.