Navjot Singh Sidhu reiterates demand for removal of Punjab DGP, AG

Sidhu had raised a question over the appointments of director general of police, state's advocate general and 'tainted' leaders.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu kept the political pot boiling in Punjab with once again strongly airing his demand on Sunday for replacing the state Director General of Police (DGP) and Advocate General, saying if the party will be left with "no face" if it does not do so.

His fresh tweet pressing for his demand came three days after he held talks with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi during which both agreed to set up a coordination panel for consultation on all major decisions to be taken by the government.

Sidhu had last week resigned from the post of Punjab Congress chief, upset over senior IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota being given the additional charge of Director General of Police of Punjab and APS Deol appointed as Advocate General.

"Demand for justice in sacrilege cases and for arrest of main culprits behind the drug trade brought our government in 2017 and due to his failure, people removed the last Chief Minister. Now, Advocate General/DGP appointments rub salt on wounds of victims, they must be replaced or we will have no face!!" Sidhu tweeted in the afternoon.

Read | Things tumbled out of control in Punjab, says Khurshid

Sidhu opposes Sahota on the ground that Sahota had remained the head of a special investigation team (SIT) formed in 2015 by the then Akali government to probe sacrilege incidents and accuses him of helping the Badals. On Deol, his objection is that he was the counsel for former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in 2015 post the sacrilege police firing incidents.

Sidhu's surprise resignation from the post of Punjab Congress president had put both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on the backfoot as they had supported him in his fight against Amarinder Singh.

On Saturday, Sidhu said, “will uphold principles of (Mahatma) Gandhi-ji and (Lal Bahadur) Shastri-ji...Post or No Post will stand by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi! Let all negative forces try to defeat me, but with every ounce of positive energy will make Punjab win, Punjabiyat (Universal Brotherhood) win and every Punjabi win !!."

It was speculated that Channi will address some of Sidhu's concerns on appointments through decisions to be taken in a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Monday. The Punjab government is learnt to have already forwarded a list of candidates to the UPSC to make a shortlist for the post of DGP.

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