Captain Amarinder Singh ‘ready for any sacrifice to stop Sidhu as CM’; targets Sonia

Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday sounded the war bugle against the Congress by declaring that he was “ready to make any sacrifice” to stop PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu from becoming the state CM. He vowed to defeat the latter by fielding a strong candidate against him in the assembly polls. He scaled up the attack by disclosing that Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi had failed to keep her word to allow him to continue as CM after he offered to quit three weeks ago. He termed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra “inexperienced” and said their “advisors were misguiding them”. He questioned the wisdom of Team Rahul members at AICC to deal with Punjab affairs. Singh told the media persons in Chandigarh: “I am ready to make any sacrifice to stop Sidhu from becoming the CM. I will pit a strong candidate against the PPCC president in the 2022 assembly polls to ensure his defeat. He is dangerous for the state.” AICC had said Punjab Congress will fight the assembly polls under the leadership of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu.

By attacking the Congress leadership and declaring war against Sidhu, he has put the ball in the AICC court – either take action against him or duck the attack. Political circles see Singh’s assertion as a clearer indication of him readying to part company with the Congress. His intensifying attacks coincided with AICC’s worry that Punjab ministry expansion could sharpen fault lines among MLAs. Asserting that he will only leave politics on a high, the former CM said: “I was ready to leave after victory but never after a loss.” Maintaining that he would decide the future path in consultations with colleagues, Singh threw a fitness challenge by saying: “You can be old at 40 and young at 80.” Indicating that he was keeping his political options open, he said he was talking to his friends before deciding on his next course. On Sonia he said: “If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have. As a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back.” He said he had even told Gandhi that he was ready to hang his boots and allow someone else to take over as CM after leading the Congress to another sweeping win in Punjab. “But that did not happen. So, I will fight,” he asserted, taking strong exception to being subjected to humiliation by calling Congress Legislature Party meeting without taking him into confidence. “I would not have taken MLAs on a flight to Goa or some place. That is not how I operate. I don’t do gimmicks. The Gandhi siblings know that is not my way. “Priyanka and Rahul are like my children… This should not have ended like this. I am hurt.”Singh took on Team Rahul by asking how AICC functionaries such as KC Venugopal or Ajay Maken or Randeep Surjewala could decide what was good for Punjab and who was good for which ministry. On Dalit CM, he said: “Our religions teach us that all are equal. I don’t look at people based on their caste, it’s about their efficiency.” On allegations of inaccessibility, Singh said he had been elected to the assembly seven times and twice to Parliament. “There must be something right with me.”