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Amarinder Singh hits out at Congress Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat
Singh denied Rawat’s claim the former refused to meet his successor Charanjit Singh Channi after the latter’s swearing-in. He added Channi called him up on the day of his swearing-in and was supposed to come over but failed to turn up.
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday rejected Congress Punjab in charge Harish Rawat’s statement that the former was not humiliated. “Three weeks before stepping down as chief minister, I offered my resignation to... (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue,” said Singh. He added the humiliating manner in which he was pushed into resigning just hours before the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting that was “clearly convened” to oust him was a matter of public record. “The world saw the humiliation and the insult heaped on me, and yet Rawat is making claims to the contrary,” he said. “If this was not humiliation then what was it?” He said Rawat should put himself in the former’s shoes. Singh added then perhaps Rawat would realise how insulting the entire affair was.
He recalled that Rawat himself publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government’s track record vis-a-vis the 2017 poll promises. Singh said Rawat categorically said, as recently as September 1, that the 2022 elections would be fought under the former’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 rejected Rawat’s remarks that the former seemed to be under pressure. Singh 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? Why was no cognisance given to the uninterrupted spree of electoral wins I handed over to the party through the four and a half years I was in the saddle?”
Singh questioned why 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?”
Responding to Rawat’s comment regarding his secular credentials, Singh 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.”
Singh denied Rawat’s claim the former refused to meet his successor Charanjit Singh Channi after the latter’s swearing-in. He added Channi called him up on the day of his swearing-in and was supposed to come over but failed to turn up.
As for not taking Rawat’s calls, Singh said it was all humbug. “We spoke just a day before the CLP meeting was called. 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.”
Singh said as a chief minister twice and state Congress chief thrice, he worked with stalwarts like Pranab Mukherjee, Moti Lal Vohra, Mohsina Kidwali, Meira Kumar and Shakeel Ahmed as Congress in-charge for Punjab. “I never had a single problem with any of them. I fail to understand Rawat’s behaviour and actions.”
He dismissed as “total nonsense” Rawat’s remarks that he was “circulating the theory of humiliation” after meeting Union home minister Amit Shah. Singh pointed out he clearly said on the day of his resignation that he was being humiliated.
As for the implementation of poll promises, Singh said contrary to “Rawat’s lies”, he fulfilled nearly 90% of the pledges made in the 2017 election manifesto. He called it a matter of record that could not be negated with “frivolous and baseless” statements.
He said Rawat’s “outrageous claims” and allegations were clearly prompted by the pathetic situation the party now found itself in the state after being on a winning spree for four and a half years.
