Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday requested his Congress colleague and former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh to “not take any such step which will harm the Congress party”, asserting that sometimes party high command has to make decisions based on feedback from legislators and the public.
“I hope that Captain Amarinder Singh will not take any such step which will harm the Congress party. Captain Sahib himself said that the party had kept him as the chief minister for nine and a half years. He has served the people of Punjab by working to the best of his ability,” Gehlot said in a series of Twitter posts.
The development comes a day after Singh put in his papers on Saturday, saying that he felt “humiliated” at the developments in the party. “This is the third time the party called the MLAs. You have an element of doubt on me... I feel humiliated,” he said.
While the 79-year-old leader remained tight-lipped on whether he would leave the Congress to start a new party, he made it amply clear that he would not accept Punjab Congress chief and his bête noire Navjot Singh Sidhu as the face of the party in the state, describing him as a “total disaster”.
Defending the party high command’s decision, Gehlot said: “I personally believe that the Congress president chooses the CM at the risk of inviting displeasure of several leaders who are in the race for Chief Ministership. However, when the same chief minister is changed, he/she is displeased and holds the decision wrong. One should listen to one’s inner voice in such moments.”
{{/usCountry}}Defending the party high command’s decision, Gehlot said: “I personally believe that the Congress president chooses the CM at the risk of inviting displeasure of several leaders who are in the race for Chief Ministership. However, when the same chief minister is changed, he/she is displeased and holds the decision wrong. One should listen to one’s inner voice in such moments.”
{{/usCountry}}The Rajasthan CM further called upon all Congressmen to rise above themselves and act responsibly in the interest of the country and the party when “fascist forces” were a matter of concern for all the countrymen.
The Congress on Sunday picked Charanjit Singh Channi as the next chief minister of Punjab making him the first Dalit to hold the post in the state. Channi, 49, will take oath at 11 am on Monday.
Amarinder Singh said he hopes that Channi is able to keep “the border state of Punjab safe”.
WIth PTI inputs