Post or no post will stand by Rahul, Priyanka: Sidhu

Chandigarh: Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had abruptly resigned as the Punjab Congress chief, said on Saturday he would stand with Gandhi siblings Rahul and Priyanka whether he holds any post or not.

Upset with some appointments after Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi took charge, Sidhu had put in his papers and, though efforts were made to placate him, it remains unclear if his resignation has been accepted.

After Sidhu's resignation plunged the party in turmoil, Channi met him and it was agreed to set up a coordination panel of the party to take key decisions of which the former has been made a part.

After a bitter fight between the then Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Sidhu, the Congress took a call to replace Captain Amarinder with Channi.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday claimed that it was not party president Sonia Gandhi who made Amarinder quit as the Punjab Chief Minister but he had to go after 78 party MLAs sought his removal.

Surjewala's remarks came as Amarinder Singh had accused the Congress leadership of "humiliating" him after he tendered his resignation as the Punjab CM.

Congress general secretary Surjewala said when any Chief Minister loses the confidence of all of his legislators, he should not remain in his post.

"Seventy-eight out of 79 legislators (in Punjab) had written for a change of the Chief Minister. Had we not changed the CM, you would have accused us of being a dictator. Seventy-eight MLAs are on one side and a CM is on the other side and you are not listening to them," said Surjewala while addressing the media here.

"Sonia Gandhi is the president of the Congress party and the decision on changing the CM in Punjab was not taken by her. As I told you, 78 MLAs had written and then we changed the CM," added Surjewala.

Sidhu, meanwhile, wrote on his Twitter handle on the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri: "Will uphold principles of Gandhi Ji & Shastri Ji Post or No Post will stand by @RahulGandhi & @priyankagandhi! Let all negative forces try to defeat me, but with every ounce of positive energy will make Punjab win, Punjabiyat (Universal Brotherhood) win & every Punjabi win!!"

The cricketer-turned-politician in his tweet also posted photos of Mahatma Gandhi and Shastri.