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Offered to resign 3 weeks ago: Captain Amarinder Singh
On Saturday, the former CM had said he was not looking to change parties and would remain in the Congress.
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh lashed out at the Congress leadership, and vowed to defeat his arch rival, state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, underlining that a recent change-of-guard had failed to stem factional tensions in the party months before polls.
In interviews with local news channels, Singh called party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “inexperienced”, said he had offered his resignation to party chief Sonia Gandhi three weeks ago, and warned that with Sidhu as the CM face, Congress will struggle in elections scheduled for early next year.“Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are like my children...this should not have ended like this. I am hurt,” Singh said. “Fact is the Gandhi siblings are inexperienced and their advisors are clearly misguiding them.”
The two-time CM also said he was humiliated by the party calling a meeting of all lawmakers without informing him beforehand. “I would not have taken the MLAs on a flight to Goa or some other place. That is not how I operate. I don’t do gimmicks,” he added.
This is the first time Singh has publicly spoken about the Congress leadership since a feud erupted between him and Sidhu in early May. The party attempted to resolve the differences, but the fight raged on, ultimately culminating in Singh’s dramatic resignation on Saturday.
A day later, three-time MLA and senior Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi took over as CM.
Two senior Congress leaders, HT spoke to, refused to comment on Amarinder’s remarks.
Singh also said that he had tendered his resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi three weeks before he was removed, but that she had asked him to continue. “If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have,” he said, adding, “as a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back.” Singh said that he asked the Congress president to ask someone else to take over as CM and lead the party to another sweeping victory. “But that did not happen, so I will fight,” he said, adding that he will leave politics on a high.
In his comments, Singh praised Channi but questioned his lack of experience in tackling border issues. He reserved the sharpest attacks for Sidhu, a former state minister who resigned from the cabinet in 2019 after Singh changed his portfolio. Singh said he would fight any attempt to name Sidhu the party’s CM face tooth and nail , and added that he was ready to make any sacrifices to save the country from such a “dangerous” man. “Will pit a strong person against him to ensure his defeat in the 2022 assembly polls,” Singh said, without adding more details.
On Saturday, the former CM had said he was not looking to change parties and would remain in the Congress.
He also accused Sidhu and other central Congress leaders of meddling in the state’s affairs, naming senior leaders KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Randeep Singh Surjewala in particular.
“If Sidhu behaves as the super CM, the party won’t function,” he said, adding that under this “drama master’s leadership”, it would be a big thing if the Congress managed to touch double digits in Punjab in the next elections. The Congress holds 80 of the state’s 117 seats.
“I had a very good PPCC president (Sunil Jakhar). I took his advice but he never told me how to run the government,” said Singh.
On allegations of inaccessibility, Singh said he had been elected to the state assembly seven times and twice to the Parliament. “There must be something right with me,” he said,
Responding to the charge that he didn’t take action against Akali Dal leaders in the sacrilege and drugs cases, the former CM dared the new leadership in the state to take action. “Let them throw the Akali leaders behind bars if they can,” Singh retorted.
Despite repeated attempts, Sidhu and Channi couldn’t be reached for comments.
