Message to Sidhu? DGP Sahota accompanies Randhawa on tour of police HQ

When Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as chief of the Punjab Congress unit on Tuesday, he had cited his unwillingness to "compromise" as a reason.

In addition to opposing some ministerial appointments of new Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Sidhu specifically took aim at the appointment of IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota.

Sahota had been given additional charge of the post of state DGP by the Channi government. Sidhu in a tweet on Thursday said Sahota was the head of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the desecration case under the previous Akali Dal government and "wrongly" indicted two Sikh youths and gave a "clean chit to Badals".

Sidhu further said in 2018, he along with current state Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and the then Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar had met the victims, assuring "support" in fight for justice.

On Thursday night, a compromise appeared to have been reached in the tension between Sidhu and Channi as the two have agreed to be part of a three-member coordinating committee to ensure coordination between the party and government.

However, on Friday morning, Randhawa announced he had conducted a "surprise check" on the Punjab Police headquarters in Chandigarh. Randhawa was accompanied by Sahota during his inspection.

Randhawa tweeted, "A surprise check was carried out at the @PunjabPoliceInd Headquarters in Sector 9 today, and the officers were directed to reach the office on time so as to provide better services to the people and prevent hustle and bustle." In the tweet, Randhawa also tagged Channi, Rahul Gandhi and Harish Rawat, the Congress in charge for Punjab.

The Tribune reported on Friday that Randhawa was "not comfortable over Sidhu interfering in Home Affairs".