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Amarinder Singh lost support of 78 MLAs out of 79: Surjewala's swipe at Captain
Congress had no other option that to replace Amarinder Singh as allowing his to continue in the CM's chair with no MLAs' support would have been termed as a dictatorship, Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday said former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had lost the support of 78 MLAs, out of 79 MLAs., news agency ANI reported. "If we wouldn't have changed the CM, it would have been termed as a dictatorship," the Congress leader said, a day after Harish Rawat trained guns at Amarinder Singh. When a chief minister loses the trust of the MLAs, he should step down from the post, Surjewala added, stoking the ongoing fiery exchange between Amarinder Singh and Congress leaders.
This is the first time that an exact number was revealed by the Congress after Amarinder Singh's resignation as the chief minister as it was reported that around 60 MLAs wrote to the high command. Amarinder Singh refuted the allegation and issued a statement saying Harish Rawat had earlier said 43 MLAs had written to the high command.
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The political blitzkrieg has escalated after Amarinder Singh's Delhi visit where he announced that he would resign from the Congress as he has been humiliated by the party leadership.
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Facing questions from G-23 leaders, the group of rebel Congress leaders who pushed for massive reforms in the Congress starting with the election to the post of the party president, the Congress countered Amarinder Singh's claims and Harish Rawat, on Friday, said the Captain was not at all humiliated and was actually wielding a free hand in Punjab. Harish Rawat alleged that Amarinder Singh did not even take into consideration the recommendations a Congress panel made for Punjab.
Amarinder Singh's exit has projected a narrative that the Congress is sidelining its senior leaders while projecting junior comparatively junior leadership like Sidhu at the front. Surjewala on Saturday clarifies that the party had no other way except to remove Amarinder Singh as he lost the trust of his MLAs.
Amarinder Singh, however, challenged the figure that 78 MLAs turned against him and said, "Next they will claim that 117 MLAs wrote to them against me!"
