Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday formally announced the withdrawal of his resignation as Punjab Congress president but continued to attack the party-run state government for not showing substantial progress in cases related to sacrilege and drugs, two issues that led to the exit of Amarinder Singh as chief minister.

While Sidhu asserted that he had no differences with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the signs of strain were barely concealed as the former cricketer not only asked what steps had been taken in the sacrilege and drugs cases by the new government but also declared that he would go to the party headquarters to resume charge only after a new advocate-general was appointed.

Sidhu had resigned as state Congress president over the appointments of the Punjab police chief and advocate-general.

While advocate-general A.P.S. Deol had submitted his resignation last Monday, signalling a truce between Channi and Sidhu, something went wrong all of a sudden and the chief minister rejected the offer to quit.

Sidhu is opposed to Deol for representing the accused in the sacrilege case. By continuing to harp on the case, Sidhu has demonstrated that there is no change in his stance.

“I never compromise; I don’t fight personal battles. I fight for issues,” he declared at the media conference on Friday while announcing the withdrawal of his resignation.

That Sidhu was traversing an independent path without even trying to create an impression of synergy with the Channi government was obvious in his comments.

“If the government doesn’t have the guts to make public the report of the special task force on drugs, give it to the party. I have the courage to release it,” Sidhu said.

Portraying himself as a “moral force”, he said: “Promises were not fulfilled in five years. Was the change meant to provide protection to the Badals? What will we tell the villagers? Why is there no proper investigation in the drugs and sacrilege cases? Are you dilly-dallying or you have a political motive?”

Parkash Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal is a former Punjab chief minister while his son Sukhbir Singh Badal had been a deputy chief minister.

Sidhu went on: “There are two ways — form the government by making 500 false promises, giving lollipops to the people. Or, by giving an agenda for the welfare of the people of Punjab.”

He, however, clarified that his lollipop remark was aimed at AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, not Channi. The Delhi chief minister’s party is vying for power in Punjab in the Assembly elections next year.

There is clearly an absence of cohesive messaging from the Congress; both Sidhu and Channi are moving separately instead of working as a team, many feel.