Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned as Punjab Congress president on Tuesday will meet Punjab Chief Minister Charanjeet Singh Channi on Thursday. A meeting between the two has been scheduled for 3:00 pm. Writing on Twitter, Navjot Singh Sidhu said, ” Chief Minister has invited me for talks … will reciprocate by reaching Punjab Bhawan, Chandigarh at 3:00 PM today, he is welcome for any discussions.” 

Navjot Sidhu’s comments come after the Punjab Chief Minister held a media conference on Tuesday where he said that he does not have an ego and wanted to sit and talk with Sidhu. When Charanjeet Singh Channi was asked if Sidhu’s decision to quit the position of Punjab Congress chief has hurt the party, the chief minister emphatically said that this was not the case. 

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On Wednesday, Navjot Singh Sidhu uploaded a video on Twitter wherein he said that he had no personal rivalry with anyone put could not let ‘tainted leaders’ occupy high posts in government. In the video, Navjot Singh Sidhu hinted, without naming names, that he was unhappy with some of Charanjeet Singh’s picks for cabinet responsibilities. 

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Sidhu’s resignation as Punjab Congress chief had come as a bolt from the blue for the party, especially the Gandhis. The Congress high command in Delhi had stuck its neck out to elevate Sidhu to the position going against their veteran leader Amarinder Singh. Sidhu’s political maneuvers eventually cost Amarinder Singh his job as Punjab’s chief minister. 

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Ever since Sidhu resigned his post, efforts have been on to placate the cricketer-turned-politician. While a group of Congress MLAs from Punjab went to Sidhu’s house on Wednesday morning to convince him to resume the post. Even Congress Punjab state in-charge Harish Rawat was said to have spoken to Sidhu in an effort to make him return to the post. Navjot Singh Sidhu was largely seen as the leader who would take the Congress to the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab. 

After Sidhu put out the video, the Congress apparently started brainstorming on names of people who could succeed him as the Punjab Pradesh Congress. However, one Sidhu’s aides Mohammed Mustafa told NDTV that the issue between Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Punjab chief minister will be resolved soon. “The Congress leadership understands Navjot Sidhu and Sidhu is not beyond the Congress leadership. He is not Amarinder Singh, who never cared for the Congress and its leadership,” Mustafa said. 

Meanwhile, Amarinder Singh, the Congress veteran who quit as Punjab chief minister earlier this month saying he was humiliated and open to options met BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday. Singh, a retired Indian Army Captain, also met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Thursday morning. Sources close to Singh said that the former chief minister briefed the NSA on the prevailing security situation in Kashmir. Political observers see Amarinder’s proximity to BJP leaders and people close to the party as a sign of the times to come.