It seems Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu, who on Tuesday submitted his resignation from the post, is rattled by the growing popularity of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. 

Since taking over as the Chief Minister on September 20, Channi has been vehemently speaking against the VIP culture and projected himself as a common man. 

He has also asked the state Chief Secretary to cut down his security cover from 1000 personnel to just 5-10 to manage the crowd and also withdraw his cavalcade of 200 vehicles and just keep a few of them as these have become a status symbol. 

Channi's aam aadmi (common man) image has also forced the opposition parties to revise their strategies.

The video of Channi's angra (Punjabi dance) at IK Gujral Punjab Technical University at a function to lay the foundation stone of ‘Baba Sahib Bhim Rao Ambedkar Museum’ dedicated to war heroes has gone viral in the state with many hailing his attempts to connect with masses. 

His actions has visibly made him popular. Sidhu expected Channi to remain in his shadow and work as per his wish till the time the assembly elections are held. 

Clearly Channi has refused to play ball and is taking decisions on his own much to the discomfort of other senior Congress colleagues too. 

Sidhu has realised that it will be a herculean task to remove Channi even if the Congress retains power after the 2022 assembly elections. 

Sidhu obviously isn't happy with such a situation and the resignation drama is widely attributed to this sense of insecurity. 

All these developments have made one person very happy and that is Captain Amarinder Singh who on Tuesday reiterated his charge that Sidhu is an unstable man and not fit for the border state of Punjab.

All eyes would now be on Sidhu - whether he eats a humble pie and stays put or decides to chalk out his own cours to stay politically relevant will be known in coming days. 

But for now, Sidhu has plunged the ruling party into crisis and vindicated those who in the past strongly opposed his elevation as the Punjab Congress President.