Amarinder Singh recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who has said that he will quit Congress and accused the party of humiliating him, is ready to float his own outfit ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections in the state.
The senior political leader, who has scotched speculation of his joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), may consider an alliance or seat adjustment with the saffron party in the upcoming polls, reported Hindustan Times citing sources.
Singh recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
However, the people familiar with the matter could not confirm whether the proposed tie-up would be predicated on the Centre taking steps to break the impasse over the three farm laws, which is a major issue in the state, said the report. For this, the former CM has clearly said that he is not a person who does politics through media statements, it said.
Singh said“I’d fight my battle in the field, in the court of the people”, and added that he intends to visit Delhi again and sit down with senior Congress leaders, known as G-23, who are upset over the party’s “shambolic state and the way its affairs are being run,” said the report.
“I’m going to tell the G-23 to hit the field, to reach out to people rather than expressing concerns in social media,” Singh was quoted as saying.
Recently, Singh hit back at Congress leader Harish Rawat, after the latter questioned his secular credentials in a no-holds-barred attack, and said it was prompted by the “pathetic situation” the party has now found itself.
“Three weeks before stepping down as CM, I had offered my resignation to Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue,” said Singh in a statement, ridiculing Rawat’s remarks that he seemed to be under pressure.
The former chief minister said the only pressure he had been under for the past few months was that of his own loyalty to the Congress, because of which he continued to tolerate insult after insult.
Punjab Congress in-charge Rawat had on October 1, in a press conference in Dehradun, countered Singh, who has said he would leave the party as he had been “utterly humiliated”, saying that the Punjab leader must reject any attempt by the BJP if they try to make him their mask in the state.
He also said Singh’s “proximity” with BJP leaders like Amit Shah puts a question mark on his secular credentials. Reacting to Rawat’s remarks, Singh said even his worst critics and enemies could not doubt his integrity in this regard.(With inputs from PTI)
