Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he would leave the Congress where he was utterly humiliated, but won’t join the BJP. Singh indicated that he might float his own political party ahead of the assembly election early next year.
“I will not stay in the party,” Amarinder said, adding that he was still thinking through his options in the interest of Punjab, whose security was the predominant priority for him. “I can’t be treated in this humiliating manner. I will not take such insults,” he said. The former CM said his principles and beliefs do not allow him to stay in the Congress.
When asked whether he will be floating a new political party after leaving the Congress, Singh said, “Whatever will happen, you will get to know.”
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Terming the senior Congressmen as “thinkers, who are critical to the future of the party”, Amarinder said the younger leadership should be promoted to implement the plans which the senior leaders formulate.
Unfortunately, the seniors are being completely sidelined which is not good for the party, Amarinder said while condemning the attack on Kapil Sibal’s house by Congress workers after he had chosen to express views that were not palatable to the party leadership.
Expressing hope that Punjab would vote for the future of the state, Amarinder said his experience showed that the people of Punjab tend to vote for a single party, irrespective of the number of parties in the fray.
Singh also confirmed his meeting with NSA Ajit Doval saying he flagged the precarious security situation in Punjab where Pakistan was sending weapons on drones. Misgovernance in Punjab would give Pakistan the opportunity to create trouble in the state and in the country, he said.
“Only a few drones and weapons have been intercepted. So who has got hold of them? I may not be the CM but the state is our own and we cannot let it suffer again. It has already suffered terrorism once,” said Singh.
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Taking a dig at those who undermine the growing Pakistani threat in Punjab, Amarinder said that such people were playing into the hands of anti-India forces by being in denial mode. “They (Pak-backed elements) are killing our soldiers every day, they are pushing weapons into the state through drones. How can we overlook these dangers,” he added.
Reiterating his opinion of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Amarinder described him as a ‘mere crowd puller’ who does not know how to carry his team along. He said he had personally worked with many PPCC chiefs, besides himself being one, and always resolved issues amicably, without indulging in theatrics like that of Sidhu.
The former CM said he had on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urged him for early resolution of the farmers’ agitation by giving Rs 25,000 crore to Punjab for crop diversification and MSP for crops.
The Congress high command is making efforts to make bridges with Amarinder in order to stop him from leaving the party. It is learnt that senior party leaders Ambika Soni and Kamal Nath were deputed to talk to former CM as both these leaders are considered close to Amarinder.
