Hours after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh resigned on Saturday after months of power struggle in the ruling party, the senior Congress leader told CNN-News18 Punjab that despite he being eighty years old, he will not back down and will join hands with him. Will explore future options in politics. Associate.
The senior Congress leader said that he has always been a ‘fauji’ and just like the forces, he has accomplished a task and after 9-and-a-half months in the chief minister’s post, he will take up the next task in consultation with others.
What was the reason behind such a big step? AAP won the Punjab assembly elections 2017 with the highest margin but the Congress high command did not have faith in you? What is the reason that all is not well in the Congress in the last six months?
Why they didn’t believe me or what happened, they should be asked. I can only speak for myself. Three months ago the MLAs were called to Delhi thrice, as well as a meeting of the CLP. Which shows a lack of confidence. If there is no confidence, then there is no reason for me to be there. So today I spoke to the Congress President and told him that I am sending you my resignation, make whomever you want as the Chief Minister and have faith.
But what was the reason? The party had trusted AAP in 2016 and a year later you won 77 seats.
What is the reason, why is he going to Delhi, a lot of people guess and say and I don’t know. What I know is that I did my duty. This Punjab is mine and I have been in the chief minister’s post for nine and a half years: five years in the earlier term and four and a half years now. I have worked for the state and Punjabis to my full potential and I am very happy with it.
In politics a minister is made CM or left the post and I am in this field for 52 years. So I don’t care about these things. I am in politics and will be.
What will you do now that you have resigned?
I have resigned today but there are always alternatives in politics. The options are limitless and we’ll see what happens next. I have allies in my 52 years long tenure in politics. I will discuss with my colleagues both in Parliament, in the Legislative Assembly and in the party.
But what are these options? Will you join BJP? What is the way forward?
I don’t want to answer these questions, but the truth is that alternatives do exist. I may be close to 80 years old and I am fit as a tiger and I will continue to fight. I’m not the kind who backs down and backs away, I’m a soldier and will remain the same.
There are tasks that are given in the army. I have finished my work and now I will do another thing. Politics is a very fast moving game.
With the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, you had a few more months. Did you have plans for the future?
I told you, I have had a lot of friends in my 50 year tenure. I will discuss and consult with them.
Will you talk to the farmers?
I am with Congress from day one, what is the connection with them, who is talking to them, where are they going. What issues are they facing: Was it my program to give Rs 5 lakh to the dead, to give jobs to their next of kin. We did a lot for the farmers because the issues farmers are raising are true.
There has been talk of farmer leaders joining politics, have you discussed it with them?
No, there has been no discussion with him regarding politics.
Has this issue started only after Navjot Singh Sindhu entered Punjab politics?
I told the Congress President, not today but three months back when I met him. I told her, “Ma’am, you absolve me of this charge because I cannot act in such a way that when Mr. Sidhu is pulling right and I am pulling left, because it will completely split the stream. He was then told during the meeting in the presence of Congress General Secretary Harish Rawat. He told me ‘No, I want you to go ahead’. Now why he gave such a decision, I have no idea about it.
Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa has accused AAP of working with Akali Dal. What is your reaction to this allegation?
The Akali Dal gives the statement it makes. Akali Dal has been continuously suing me for 13 years. They removed me from the assembly, formed a committee where the 7-0 decision took me back. I have enmity with him, how can I connect with him? Tript Bajwa withers does not know politics or is lying.
Right now the situation is that those who were against Congress are facing trial and you are soft on Badal. Is it true?
Be it Jawahar Kala, Kotkapura, Bargari, all SITs are running. The SIT which has completed the investigation has been converted into a case where arrest was also made, the former DGP is out on bail. IGP Paramraj Singh was out on bail. All investigations are on. Am I breaking the laws of the land?
The Akali Dal created issues in such a way that one of them gets the post. It is the same game in Delhi and here in Punjab also.
Would you agree to become the Chief Minister of Navjot Singh Sindhu?
I do not agree with Navjot Singh Sidhu as Chief Minister. He is a total disaster. He was a minister and did not know how to handle a ministry. How will he run the state? I had said while expressing my desire to resign from the Congress President, then why the need for CLP? I don’t know who is being considered for the CM post but I will never accept Sidhu as I know his potential and he has absolutely no potential.
Would you like to tell something to the Congress high command and leaders?
I have nothing to tell. Sonia ji has known me for the last fifty years, the children I have known her since childhood and their fathers used to study with me in school. They are like my own children. I have no problem with Rahul Gandhi.
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