Will launch party once EC clears name, symbol: Capt

Former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh says he will have seat adjustment with BJP, not alliance; claims many in Congress in touch with him

Former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he would launch his new party as soon as the Election Commission clears the name and the symbol.

Announcing that his party would contest all 117 seats in the state, Amarinder said many people from the Congress were in touch with him and they will come out in the open at the right time.

Announcing that his party would contest all 117 seats in the state, Amarinder said many people from the Congress were in touch with him and they will come out in the open at the right time. “We are waiting for the opportune moment, but I am not going to take their names right now. Already, my supporters are being harassed,” he said at his maiden press conference after stepping down as the Punjab chief minister.

The former CM said he would have seat adjustment with the BJP, not alliance. “In military parlance, it means concentration of forces. I have not yet talked to the BJP on this…we will also explore seat sharing with breakaway Akali groups,” he said.

Will have to work as a joint force to defeat Cong, SAD, AAP

Asked about SAD (Sanyukt) Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s refusal to have a tie-up with him, Amarinder said: “If Dhindsa has to put up a real fight, he will have to concentrate his forces too”. He said to defeat the Congress, SAD and AAP, they would have to work as a joint force.

The two-time former CM said his lawyers were working on the EC approval for the name and symbol of the new party. Asked why he had not quit the Congress till now, Amarinder said he had spent 52 years in the Congress and how would it matter if he continued for another 10 days. On how many party legislators were in touch with him, he said: “If (former Congress president) Rahul Gandhi needs to have back-to-back meetings with Punjab Congress MLAs, what does it mean?”

Amarinder, who cited implementation of 92% of the poll promises, development projects, ₹96,000-crore industrial investment and welfare programmes to defend his performance in the last four-and-a-half years, rejected the Congress claims that a majority of MLAs were opposed to his continuation as the chief minister.

‘Cong made excuses to replace me’

“Once they (party leadership) had made up their mind to replace me, all these excuses were made,” he said, pointing out that the so-called 18-point agenda of the Congress for his government was nothing but part of the manifesto for the 2017 assembly polls in Punjab.

Training his guns on his detractors, particularly state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the veteran leader said they were indulging in petty issues. “We will fight and defeat Sidhu from wherever he contests the upcoming assembly polls,” he vowed, claiming that surveys got done by him showed a drop 25% in popularity of the Congress ever since Sidhu was handed over the reins of the party’s state unit.

‘Is Aroosa the only issue left in Punjab?’

Amarinder also trashed former chief parliamentary secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu’s allegations that his Pakistani friend Aroosa Alam was taking money for postings and sending it out, calling them “baseless”. “Is Aroosa the only issue left in Punjab?” he asked, questioning the intention of Sukhjinder Randhawa in raising the issue after all these years.

The ex-CM also dismissed Sidhu’s tweet accusing him of being loyal to the BJP, stating that the thought of seat sharing with the BJP came to his mind only after he was forced out of the office. “As the chief minister, it was my duty to work with the Centre to function effectively,” he said.