Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Friday attended the programme where Navjot Singh Sidhu formally took charge as state Congress president but the orchestrated meeting couldn’t hide the frost in their relations.

While the seemingly irreconcilable differences are not a secret, the party appeared contended by showcasing a charade of unity as the chief minister’s absence would have spoiled the event.

Amarinder, being a seasoned player, avoided making any hostile gesture but largely remained aloof. Even Sidhu made no attempt to conceal his indifference, demonstrating that he was merely completing the formalities as part of the political exigency plan.

While Amarinder had explicitly indicated that he would not meet the new state Congress chief unless he publicly tendered an apology for attacking him, the central leadership intervened to ensure the internal rift didn’t derail the political project of retaining Punjab in the elections due in February next year.

Sidhu and other office-bearers had invited the chief minister to the programme in Chandigarh after a lot of behind-the-scenes reconciliation efforts and Amarinder agreed to attend without an apology.

The chief minister might have altered his stand sensing the swift metamorphosis in the political climate after a majority of MLAs and ministers close to him accepted Sidhu’s leadership and many senior leaders convinced him about the futility of challenging the high command’s decision.

But the political one-upmanship could not be abandoned and Amarinder extended an invite to Sidhu, MLAs and MPs to tea just before the inaugural ceremony to ensure it was Sidhu who first came to him.

Sidhu came and greeted the chief minister with folded hands without any show of emotion, uttering just these few words: “How are you Sir, such a pleasure.”

He tried to take a seat across the table to maintain a distance but some senior leaders insisted he sat beside the chief minister. The two leaders barely spoke to each other.

Even at Sidhu’s installation at the party headquarters, the new state Congress chief and Amarinder didn’t talk even though they sat next to each other. Sidhu hugged a few leaders and cheerfully met others on the stage but the deadpan face and stiffness overtook his countenance as he took his seat next to the chief minister.

Sidhu touched the feet of veterans Lal Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and greeted some other leaders with folded hands before starting his speech without even looking at Amarinder.

It was clear that the new state chief didn’t intend to change the tenor of his discourse as he referred to every single issue he had been harping on for months to highlight the chief minister’s purported failures.

Sidhu said: “For months now, I am hearing controversies about Sidhu becoming state chief. That’s not the issue. The issue is farmers sitting in protest outside Delhi. The issue is sacrilege, insult of our guru. The issue is drugs mafia, high electricity cost. The issue is thieves have been spared.”

Sidhu knows it is better to align with the dominant sentiment of Punjab than humouring the veteran chief minister who nurtures extreme antipathy against him. By doing so, he will encroach upon the Opposition space as well, preventing the disgruntled voters from shifting to the Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party.

Although Sidhu declared that every ordinary party worker had become the state unit president on Friday with his elevation, it couldn’t be overstated that Amarinder, the most prominent and powerful Congressman in Punjab, remained outside the ambit of his emotional outreach.

Amarinder, who recalled how his father was closely related to Sidhu’s parents, promised to work together for the benefit of the Congress. However, he pointed out that Punjab was a complex state and defended his track record by arguing that action in certain kinds of cases takes time. He was under pressure as the outgoing chief, Sunil Jakhar, too had pointed to his unfulfilled promises in a powerful and candid speech.