India / Sidhu to continue as Punjab Congress chief, issue will be resolved soon: Sidhu's advisor

Chandigarh: While efforts are on to placate Navjot Singh Sidhu, his advisor has said that Sidhu will stay on as Punjab Congress chief and the issue will be resolved soon.

"The issue will be resolved soon. Navjot Sidhu will continue to be Punjab Congress chief," Mohammad Mustafa, adviser to Navjot Sidhu, told NDTV.

He further told NDTV that the Congress leadership understands Navjot Sidhu. "Sidhu is not Amarinder Singh, who never cared for the Congress and its leadership," Mustafa told NDTV.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday reached out to a miffed Navjot Singh Sidhu and offered to resolve issues through talks, a day after the former cricketer resigned as the state Congress chief.

Meanwhile, efforts are on to placate Sidhu as several party leaders, including ministers Pargat Singh and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, met him at his residence in Patiala. They urged him to work to strengthen the party.

Channi also said the party is supreme and the government follows its ideology. Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting, Channi said, "The (state) president is a head of the party. The head is to sit in the family (party)." "I have spoken to Sidhu sahab over the telephone today. The party is supreme and the government accepts the party's ideology and follows that. (I told him that) You come, sit and talk," he said.

"If you (Sidhu) feel there is anything wrong, you can point it out," he said. When asked what was Sidhu's response, Channi said the leader told him that he would sit and talk, and would give him time for a meeting.

Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. (PPCC) on Tuesday. He, however, added that he will continue to serve the Congress party.

Navjot Singh Sidhu took to Twitter to make the announcement and posted the letter he had written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Sidhu on Wednesday in a video message flagged the issue of appointment of "tainted" officials and ministers.

Sharing a video on Twitter, Sidhu said, "I have no personal rivalry with anyone. 17 years of my political career has been for a purpose, to make a difference, to take a stand and to make people's lives better. This is my only religion." "I cannot compromise with my ethics, moral authority. What I witness is a compromise with issues, agenda in Punjab. I cannot misguide high command nor can I let them be misguided," he said.