Form of words:
New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Ambika Soni on Saturday turned down the offer of the party high command to become the next Chief Minister of Punjab following the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh.
Speaking to the media in Delhi on Sunday, Soni confirmed that she was offered the role, but she had refused.
“I have rejected the offer. The party’s exercise (to elect a new CM) is underway in Chandigarh and the general secretary and observers are taking the views of all the MLAs,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Soni also said that he believes that the face of the Chief Minister of Punjab should be Sikh.
“It is a belief that I have always held; The Chief Minister of Punjab should be a Sikh person,” she said.
#Watch “I have rejected the offer (to become the next Chief Minister of Punjab)… I believe #Punjab Congress MP Ambika Soni in Delhi says CM’s face should be Sikh pic.twitter.com/xPuPv9hvug
— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2021
Read also: Congress takes leaf from BJP’s playbook, tries to change Punjab captain
Rahul Gandhi meeting
The Congress is contemplating a succession plan after Amarinder Singh abruptly resigned on Saturday citing constant insults.
Ambika Soni’s name emerged as the front runner to take her place. He held a meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and organization general secretary KC Venugopal on Saturday evening, which lasted till late in the night.
Sources said that in the meeting, Soni made it clear that he was not interested in it.
The party high command believed that the senior leader from Punjab would have made an “agreed” figure to assume the chief minister’s chair in the six months leading up to the February-March assembly elections. However, Sony, who has been unwell for some time, was not ready for this.
As of now, the top contenders for the post are former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs Sunil Jakhar and Pratap Singh Bajwa and current minister Sukhjinder Randhawa. MLA, former minister and current state president Navjot Singh Sidhu can also be considered.
Sources said the party leadership is trying to make up its mind about whether both the PCC chief and the CM can be Sikh, or it would be prudent to have a Hindu face as Sidhu was recently appointed as the state chief.
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
Read also: ‘Disgraced thrice in last 2 months’ – Amarinder resigns as Punjab CM
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