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Captain Amarinder Singh quits Congress, floats new party Punjab Lok Congress
On his new party Punjab Lok Congress, Captain Amarinder Singh said the registration of the party was pending approval with the Election Commission of India.
Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Indian National Congress and announced the formation of a new outfit, Punjab Lok Congress.
In a seven-page resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the two-time former chief minister said the “midnight conspiracy” carried out against him at her and her children’s behest by calling a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting over his head in the dead of the night and that too through Twitter was the most “egregious” act.
“It was my prerogative as the CLP leader to have called the meeting if the AICC desired it. It was only early next morning that a colleague informed me that such an outrageous act has been committed,” he wrote. He said the crude manner in which the whole operation was executed left a very foul taste in the mouth.
Singh said he felt deeply hurt by her conduct and that of her children who he still loved as much as his own children, having known their father since they were in school together in 1954. “…I hope that no other senior Congressperson is subjected to the ignominy that I was put through,” he wrote.
The veteran leader resigned on September 18 following a long-drawn tussle with Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, four cabinet ministers and several party legislators amid fears that anti-incumbency arising from his style of functioning could hurt the party’s chances in the forthcoming polls. Charanjit Singh Channi, who was among the rebel ministers, was picked by the party as the next CM of the state.
Singh wrote in his letter that he was quite concerned about “inexperienced hands” handling Punjab. “It is beyond my comprehension as how these inexperienced hands will handle the security situation in view of the massive influx of weapons and explosives and narcotics. We are gravely threatened by narco-terrorism that our hostile neighbour is sponsoring against us,” he said.
The veteran leader also stated that despite his reservations and over the unanimous advice of almost all the members of Parliament from Punjab, Sidhu, whom he called an acolyte of the Pakistani deep state, was appointed as the Punjab Congress president. “Sidhu’s only claim to fame was that he would abuse me and my government on a regular basis. I am old enough to be his father but that did not stop him from using the filthiest and most vile language against me both publicly and privately,” he wrote.
Captain Amarinder said that rather than being reined in, Sidhu was patronised by Rahul and Priyanka, while Sonia Gandhi chose to turn a blind eye. “I told you that Sidhu is a person of unstable mind and you will one day regret this decision and it would be too late by then,” he wrote, adding, “I am sure you must be regretting it now”.
Training his guns at his former colleagues over illegal sand mining, the ex-CM said that Congress MLAs and ministers, including an overwhelming number in the current government, were the offenders. “One of my enduring regrets would remain as to why I did not take some of them to task. The thought that it would embarrass the party held me back,” the former CM wrote, declaring his intent to make public their names which were provided to him by the state government and intelligence from time to time.
Besides listing his achievements during his second term, particularly the state’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and record 92% implementation of election manifesto, he also recalled, in the letter, the circumstances in which he entered politics and his journey over 52 years of public life, including the tough stance taken by him at various critical moments in Punjab’s history.
On his new party, Captain Amarinder Singh said the registration of the party was pending approval with the Election Commission of India. “Since I announced that I will be forming my own party, my team of lawyers is working on the process and had applied to the Election Commission of India for the registration,” he said.
He said the Election Commission has no objection to the proposed name, Punjab Lok Congress. About the party symbol, he said the EC has given three symbols from which one has to be chosen. “We have submitted three symbols and the final one will be chosen from the set of six, three suggested by the EC and three proposed by the party,” he said, adding, “The party will be formally launched later, and its policies, programmes, agenda and vision will be spelt out at the time of the launch.”
“@capt_amarinder Not just me. Punjabis of entire world expect you will reveal names of ministers, political hunch men, bureaucrats & police officials responsible for drug spread & loot by sand & other mafias. And frankly do not form another party if u still have reservations,” Congress MP from Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla tweeted.
