In a big revelation, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday said 78 MLAs, out of 79, had written a letter to the party high command demanding the change of guard in Punjab, months ahead of the state assembly polls. Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down as the chief minister after a month-long power tussle with Navjot Singh Sidhu and accused the Congress?s top leadership of ?humiliating? him.
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Commenting on ongoing political crisis in Punjab Congress and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Surjewala said, ?Out of 79, 78 MLAs had written that the Chief Minister should be changed. When a Chief Minister loses the trust of MLAs, then he should himself step down from the post.?
After quitting the Punjab chief minister post, Captain Amarinder had told reporters that he was free now to explore other options.
A few days back, Captain Amarinder made it clear he was not joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but added that had no intention of continuing in the Congress either.
ALSO READ: Punjab Crisis: Capt Amarinder is ?Not Joining BJP?, Won?t Stay in Congress Either; Twitter Bio Updated
The Congress, he said, was going downhill with senior leaders completely ignored and not given a voice. The disgruntled Congress veteran has also tweaked his Twitter bio which no longer features the party’s name, but describes him as an “Army veteran, the former chief minister of Punjab who is continuing to serve the state?.
Denying any move to join the BJP, Amarinder said he would leave the Congress where he had been ‘utterly humiliated and was not trusted’. “I will resign…will not stay in the party,” he said, adding that he was still thinking through his options in the interest of Punjab, whose security was the predominant priority for him.
“I will not be treated in this humiliating manner…I will not take such insults,” he said, adding that his ‘principles and beliefs do not allow him to stay in the Congress’.
Captain Amarinder?s clarification came after he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, fuelling speculation over his future plans. After quitting the Punjab CM post, he had told reporters that he was free now to explore other options.
The meeting between Amit Shah and Amarinder Singh in Delhi triggered speculation on the possibility of the former CM seeking the BJP’s support. Singh, however, said they discussed the farmers’ agitation.
The party’s top leadership in Delhi remained mum on developments in Punjab with a spokesperson merely saying that Harish Rawat, the state’s in-charge at the AICC, was keeping tabs. But the “Group of 23?, made up of party leaders who have been seeking organisational reforms in the Congress. picked the day to voice concern over developments in Punjab and elsewhere.
Senior party leader Kapil Sibal said what is happening to the Congress in Punjab gives an advantage to Pakistan and the ISI, and recalled the state’s history. He told reporters that such developments should be discussed at a party platform.
This political drama within Congress has plunged the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.
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