Sidhu gets back to work, leaves for Vaishno Devi

Sources said that Sidhu would out the list of district chiefs by the end of this week. “Just wait and watch to see how he campaigns for the Congress now. Everything has been sorted,” a source close to him said.

On what prompted change in Sidhu’s mind, the source said, “There has been a consensus on Advocate General. The party has told Sidhu that he would be replaced and the new AG will be his candidate”.
Sidhu was pushing for Deepinder Singh Patwalia as AG but Rahul Gandhi had shot down the proposal.

The state government had last month appointed APS Deol as AG, replacing Atul Nanda. The government functionaries have been saying that the party did not have much of a choice. Most of the senior lawyers were engaged by the Shiromani Akali Dal leaders in various cases and if the government appointed any of them as AG, it would create another political issue.

The source said said Sidhu’s resignation was as good as withdrawn. “He may not have withdrawn his resignation publicly but if he is back to work then it means the resignation does not mean anything.”
The party has not been able to reconstitute its organisational structure in Punjab despite Sidhu being in saddle since July-end. With Harish Chaudhary being a part of the meeting on Tuesday, sources said it would not be delayed any further. Chaudhary knows the state and its leaders having worked as AICC secretary in Punjab ahead of 2017 elections.

Sidhu has left Chandigarh for Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu. Sidhu’s birthday is on Wednesday and he would spend his day at the shrine, said sources.