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Capt Amarinder quits Cong, accuses Gandhis of ‘midnight conspiracy’ against him
A Congress Legislature Party meeting was called over his head at the dead of the night and that too through Twitter, says former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh
Former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress and announced the formation of his new party, Punjab Lok Congress.
In a seven-page resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, the two-time ex- chief minister said the “midnight conspiracy” carried out against him at the behest of her and her children by calling a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting over his head at the dead of the night and that too through Twitter was the most “egregious” act.
“It was my prerogative as the CLP leader to have called the meeting if the AICC desired it. It was only early next morning that a colleague informed me that such an outrageous act has been committed,” he wrote. He said the crude manner in which the whole operation was executed “left a very foul taste in the mouth”.
Amarinder said he felt deeply hurt by her conduct and that of her children who he still loved as much as his own, having known their father, since they were in school together in 1954. “…I hope that no other senior Congressperson is subjected to the ignominy that I was put through,” the letter read.
‘Concerned about state being given in inexperienced hands’
Amarinder wrote that he was quite concerned about the inexperienced hands in which the state was given. “It is beyond my comprehension as how these inexperienced hands will handle the security situation in view of the massive influx of weapons and explosives and narcotics. We are gravely threatened by narco-terrorism that our hostile neighbour is sponsoring against us,” he said.
The veteran leader was made to resign by the Congress high command on September 18 following his long-drawn tussle with Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, four cabinet ministers and several party MLAs amid fears that anti-incumbency arising from his style of functioning could hurt the party’s chances in the upcoming polls. Charanjit Singh Channi, who was among the rebel ministers, was picked by the party as the next CM of the state.
‘Rahul, Priyanka patronised Navjot Sidhu’
The veteran leader also stated that despite his reservations and over the unanimous advice of almost all the MPs from Punjab, Sidhu, an acolyte of the Pakistani deep state, was appointed as the Punjab Congress president.
“Sidhu’s only claim to fame was that he would abuse me and my government on a regular basis. I am old enough to be his father but that did not stop him from using the filthiest and most vile language against me both publicly and privately,” he wrote.
Amarinder said that rather than being reined in, he was patronised by Rahul and Priyanka, while she (Sonia) chose to turn a blind eye. “I told you that Sidhu is a person of unstable mind and you will one day regret this decision and it would be too late by then,” he wrote, adding, “I am sure you must be regretting it now”.
‘Cong MLAs involved in illegal sand mining’
Training his guns at his former colleagues over illegal sand mining, the former CM said that Congress MLAs and ministers, including an overwhelming number in the current government, were the offenders.
“One of my enduring regrets would remain as to why I did not take some of them to task. The thought that it would embarrass the party held me back,” he wrote, declaring his intent to make public their names which were provided to him by the state government and intelligence from time to time. Besides listing his achievements during his second term, particularly the state’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and record 92% implementation of election manifesto, he also recalled, in the letter, the circumstances in which he entered politics and his journey over 52 years of public life, including the tough stance taken by him at various critical moments in Punjab’s history.
Formal launch of party, symbol later
On his new party, Amarinder said the registration of the party was pending approval with the Election Commission of India. “Since I announced that I will be forming my own party, my team of lawyers is working on the process and has applied to the Election Commission for the registration,” he said.
He said the Election Commission had no objection to the proposed name, Punjab Lok Congress. About the party symbol, he said the EC had given three symbols from which one was to be chosen. “We have submitted three symbols and the final one will be chosen from the set of six, three suggested by the EC and three proposed by the party,” he said, adding, “The party will be formally launched later and its policies, programmes, agenda and vision will be spelt out at the time of the launch.”
