Is there space for ‘humiliation and insult’ in Congress, asks Amarinder

Amarinder Singh, who quit as the chief minister after a bitter fight with party colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu for control of the party, was responding to Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate’s “there is no room for anger in the party” remarks in Delhi

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday referred to his “humiliation” by the Congress and asked the party leadership if he is treated like this, what would be the fate of common workers.

Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh referred to his humiliation by the Congress and asked the party leadership if he is treated like this, what would be the fate of common workers. (PTI)

Singh, who quit as the chief minister after a bitter fight with party colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu for control of the party, was responding to Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate’s “there is no room for anger in the party” remarks in Delhi.

“Yes, there’s no space for anger in politics. But is there space for humiliation & insult in a grand old party like @INCIndia? If a senior party leader like me can be treated like this, I wonder what the workers must go through!” Singh said in a tweet posted by his media adviser Raveen Thukral.

The former CM, in a statement on Wednesday, lashed out at the Congress leadership for his humiliation, calling party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “inexperienced”. He also vowed to defeat his bête noire, state Congress chief Sidhu, by pitting a strong person against him in the 2022 state polls.

“Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are like my children...this should not have ended like this. I am hurt,” Singh said. “Fact is the Gandhi siblings are inexperienced and their advisors are clearly misguiding them.”

Singh said he had tendered his resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi three weeks before he was removed, but she had asked him to continue. “If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have,” he said, adding, “As a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back.”

He also warned that with Sidhu as the CM face, Congress will struggle in elections scheduled for early next year.

Singh said he asked the Congress president to ask someone else to take over as CM and lead the party to another sweeping victory. “But that did not happen, so I will fight,” he said, adding that he will leave politics on a high.

On Thursday, the Congress refused to comment on whether Singh would leave the party after his “unceremonious” exit as the chief minister of Punjab, and said “if someone wants to leave, we have no comment to offer”.

Party spokesperson Shrinate said Amarinder Singh is an elder and may have stated things out of anger.

“He is our elder and the elderly often get angry and say a lot of things. We respect his anger, age and experience. We hope he does reconsider his words. But, there is no space in politics for anger, envy, enmity, vendetta and personal attacks and comments against political opponents,” she told reporters.

“We hope that he will rethink on his own words while showing prudence, as he has remained a stalwart of the Congress party, which made him the chief minister for nine years and nine months,” Shrinate added.

This is the first time Singh has publicly spoken about the Congress leadership since a feud erupted between him and Sidhu in early May. The party attempted to resolve the differences, but the fight raged on, ultimately culminating in Singh’s dramatic resignation on Saturday.

A day later, three-time MLA and senior Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi took over as CM.

In his comments, Singh praised Channi but questioned his lack of experience in tackling border issues. He reserved the sharpest attacks for Sidhu, a former state minister who resigned from the cabinet in 2019 after Singh changed his portfolio. Singh said he would fight any attempt to name Sidhu the party’s CM face tooth and nail, and added that he was ready to make any sacrifices to save the country from such a “dangerous” man. “Will pit a strong person against him to ensure his defeat in the 2022 assembly polls,” Singh said, without adding more details.

Meanwhile, Haryana home minister Anil Vij termed Singh’s exit a ”political murder”, which he said was done as the “nationalist” leader was a hurdle in the party’s “gameplan”.

(With agency inputs)