Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday took to Twitter to express his disappointment on being unceremoniously removed from his post just before the elections. Stating that he was hurt, Singh said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were like his children but they were being misguided by their ‘inexperienced’ advisors.
He said, “Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are like my children…this should not have ended like this. I’m hurt. Fact is the Gandhi siblings are inexperienced & their advisors are clearly misguiding them.”
Singh said that he was ‘prepared to leave politics’ after the Congress’ victory in the next assembly polls ‘but never after a loss.’ “Had offered my resignation to Sonia Gandhi 3 weeks back but she asked me to continue. Had she called me and told me to step down, would have done so,” he added.
Singh’s outbursts came days after Charanjit Singh Channi became the new chief minister of Punjab. Singh said that he would make ‘any sacrifice’ to stop Navjot Singh Sidhu from becoming the state’s chief minister.
He said, “Ready to make any sacrifice to stop Navjot Singh Sidhu becoming Punjab CM. Will pit a strong person against him to ensure his defeat in 2022 Assembly polls. If Navjot Sidhu is CM face, then big thing if @INCPunjab touches double digits.”
The former chief minister also hit out at senior Congress leaders such as KC Venugopal, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Ajay Maken for deciding the names for individual ministry in the new cabinet of Punjab. “How can @kcvenugopalmp or @ajaymaken or @rssurjewala decide who’s right for which ministry. When I was CM I called the shots and appointed my own ministers based not on their caste but their effectiveness,” he wrote.
Singh also dared Sidhu and the new chief minister to take action against the Akali Dal leaders in the religious sacrilege case. He wrote, “They (Navjot Singh Sidhu etc) complained against me for not taking arbitrary action against #Badals @bsmajithia and going by rule of law. Now they’re are in power, let them throw the @Akali_Dal_ leaders behind bars if they can.”
Punjab goes to the polls in February next year. It’s not clear yet if Singh will float his new party ahead of the elections or join the BJP.