Capt Amarinder Singh resigns as Punjab CM
Chandigarh: In a dramatic turn of events ahead of Punjab Assembly polls, Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday stepped down as Chief Minister minutes before the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) was to meet to elect a new leader on the directions of the party high command.
Amarinder Singh submitted the resignation of his Council of Ministers to Governor Banwarilal Purohit who accepted it and asked him to continue till the next arrangement.
The CLP, in its meeting, passed a resolution to give party president Sonia Gandhi power to nominate a new CM.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the Congress in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat said the party has sent two resolutions to the high command that were passed in the CLP meeting.
"We have a tradition of requesting the party president to name the CM. Carrying forward that tradition, the party has unanimously passed a resolution asking Sonia Gandhi to elect the CM," Rawat said.
Party Observers Ajay Makan and Harish Chaudhary were also present in the CLP meeting.
Through another resolution, the CLP praised Captain Amarinder Singh for the works done by him as the Chief Minister.
Speaking to media persons after his resignation, Amarinder cited continued humiliation by the Congress leadership over the past two months as the reason for his move.
Making it clear that he would explore and exercise his future options when the time comes, the Captain said he would decide his future political course of action in consultation with his supporters who have stood by him for over five decades. "There is always an option, and I will use that option when the time comes… at the moment I am still in Congress," he said after submitting his resignation.
"I was humiliated three times by the Congress leadership in the past two months… they called the MLAs to Delhi twice and now convened the CLP here in Chandigarh today (Saturday)," said Amarinder, adding that he had decided and informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the morning that he would resign.
"Apparently they (Congress high command) do not have confidence in me and did not think I could handle my job. But I felt humiliated at the manner in which they handled the whole affair," he told mediapersons at the gate of the Raj Bhavan after submitting his resignation letter to the Governor.
"Let them appoint who they trust," he remarked, taking a dig at the party leadership.
When asked if he would accept Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new Chief Minister of the party chooses to name him, Amarinder said he will never accept Sidhu as the CM.
"He is a disaster. He could not run a ministry under me. How will he run Punjab?" the outgoing CM said.
He also bashed Sidhu for the latter's "love for Pakistan" and alleged that the PCC Chief has links with Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Asked what transpired between him and Sonia Gandhi when he called her up, he said she had replied: "Sorry, Amarinder". He then told her that he would resign in the evening.
Captain Amarinder tendered his resignation and that of the Council of Ministers to the Governor at the Punjab Raj Bhavan shortly after 4.30 pm, pre-empting what was widely being seen as a move to remove him from Chief Ministership through an emergency Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting convened by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at 5 pm.
"I hereby tender my resignation as Chief Minister, and that of my Council of Ministers," the one-line resignation letter said.
His wife Preneet Kaur, MP, accompanied him to the Governor's house. His son Raninder Singh was also present, along with MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Ravneet Singh Bittu, AG Atul Nanda and Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar.
The day's developments have come as the culmination of Captain's two-year-long rocky relationship with cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, particularly ever since he was appointed president of the Pradesh Congress.
Sidhu and Congress MLAs close to him had been targeting the Captain on several issues, accusing him of failing to being soft to Badals, failing to nail those responsible for sacrilege incidents during the previous SAD-BJP regime and not taking effective steps to curb the drug menace in the state, a promise Amarinder Singh had made holding the Holy "Gutka Sahib" in his hand during an election rally at Talwandi Sabo in 2017.
The Captain's detractors also used to accuse him of being inaccessible, even to the party MLAs and ministers and giving a long handle to the bureaucracy that virtually ruled the state.
