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Amarinder hits back at Rawat, says Cong in pathetic state in Punjab
Amarinder said that three weeks before stepping down as CM, he had offered his resignation to Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue
Taking strong exception to Harish Rawat’s no-holds barred attack against him, former CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday rejected the Congress Punjab in-charge’s “outrageous“ claims and allegations, which, he said, were clearly prompted by the pathetic situation the party now finds itself in the state after being on a winning spree for four and a half years.
Amarinder said that three weeks before stepping down as CM, he had offered his resignation to (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue. The humiliating manner in which he was pushed into resigning just hours before the CLP meeting, that was clearly convened to oust him, was a matter of public record, he said.
“The world saw the humiliation and the insult heaped on me, and yet Rawat is making claims to the contrary,” the two-time former chief minister remarked, adding “If this was not humiliation then what was it?”
He said that Rawat should put himself in his (Capt’s) shoes, and then, perhaps, he would realise how insulting the entire affair was. The former CM recalled that Rawat himself had publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government’s track record on the 2017 poll promises. He said the Congress in-charge had categorically stated on September 1 that the 2022 elections would be fought under his (Amarinder’s) leadership and the high command had no intention of replacing him.
“So how can he now claim that the party leadership was dissatisfied with me, and if they were, then why did he deliberately keep me in the dark all this time,” he asked.
Ridiculing Rawat’s remarks that he (Amarinder) seemed to be under pressure, the former CM said the only pressure he had been under for the past few months was that of his own loyalty to the Congress, because of which he continued to tolerate insult after insult. “If the party did not intend to humiliate me then why was (Navjot Singh) Sidhu allowed to openly criticise and attack me on social media and other public platforms for months? Why did the party give the rebels, led by Sidhu, a free hand in undermining my authority?” he asked.
Amarinder also asked why the Congress was allowing Sidhu even now to hold the party to ransom and continue to dictate terms. “What is the pressure he exerts on the party leadership that they are so defenceless against him and are allowing him to have his way even to the cost of the Congress’ future in Punjab” he said. On Rawat’s comment regarding his secular credentials, he said even his worst critics and enemies could not doubt his integrity in this regard. “But I am no longer surprised that a senior and seasoned Congress leader like Rawat is questioning my secular credentials. It is quite evident that I am no longer trusted and respected in the party that I have served loyally all these years,” he added.
As for not taking Rawat’s calls, Amarinder said it was all humbug. “We spoke just a day before the CLP meeting was called and he (Rawat) told me then there was nothing in the works and even claimed he had not seen any letter sent by 43 MLAs. I am shocked at the blatant way in which he is now lying about this,” the former CM added.
Captain Amarinder dismissed as total nonsense Rawat’s remarks that he was ‘circulating the theory of humiliation after meeting Amit Shah’, and pointed out that he had clearly said on the day of his resignation that he had been humiliated by thrice by the Congress party, which had sidelined him to convene CLP meetings twice in Delhi and the last time in Chandigarh even though he was the CLP leader then.
