Former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday confirmed that he is forming a new political party in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year, as first reported by Hindustan Times on October 2.
“Yes, I am forming a party. My lawyers are working on it. I can tell you the name once the Election Commission approves it. We have made a request for the symbol also,” Singh said at a press conference in Chandigarh that was telecast live on his social media handle.
The announcement comes a little over a month since the two-time chief minister stepped down on September 18, after being pushed into a corner by the Congress party’s leadership which first appointed cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu as president of the state unit of the party against Singh’s wishes, and then summoned a meeting of legislators to remove Singh as chief minister.
The party chose Charanjit Singh Channi as its chief minister; elections in the state are due early next year.
“We will explore seat adjustment with the Bharatiya Janata Party and breakaway factions of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) but there will be no alliance,” clarified. He also suggested that some leaders from the Congress were in touch but said “I can’t tell you the names.”
{{/usCountry}}“We will explore seat adjustment with the Bharatiya Janata Party and breakaway factions of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) but there will be no alliance,” clarified. He also suggested that some leaders from the Congress were in touch but said “I can’t tell you the names.”
{{/usCountry}}Singh said he will be meeting Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday to discuss a resolution of the standoff with farmers over the three farm laws passed by the Centre. Farmers have been protesting the laws since November last year.
Even as the former chief minister was speaking, Sidhu took to Twitter to reiterate the support of Punjab Congress MLAs for the current dispensation and to criticise Singh.
“We, the 78 MLAs of the Congress, could never imagine, what we received was an arm-twisted, ED controlled BJP loyal chief minister of Punjab @capt_amarinder...who sold the interests of Punjab to save his skin! You were the negative force stalling justice and development of Punjab,” Sidhu tweeted.