Exit of Captain Amarinder Singh as Punjab Chief Minister has evoked sharp reaction from across the political spectrum. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has termed it “fratricide”
Taking to Twitter, Abdullah said, “Ordinarily I wouldn’t give a toss about the fratricide in the Congress party – their party, their business. However, what the Congress does has a direct fallout for every political party outside the NDA orbit because almost 200 Lok Sabha seats see a direct BJP – Cong fight.”
Singh on Saturday resigned from his post as the Chief Minister of Punjab after months of political tussle, saying he stepped down as he felt ‘humiliated’.
At the same time, he said that the “future politics option is always there and I will use that option”.
Amarinder Singh also termed Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh as a ‘disaster’ who would not be acceptable to him as his successor.
“I have submitted my resignation. The future politics option is always there and I will use that option when the time comes. At the moment, I am still in the Congress,” Amarinder Singh, 80, who has been active in politics for the past 52 years, told the media after resigning from the top post.
Making it clear that he would explore and exercise his future options when the time comes, Amarinder Singh said he would decide his future course of action in consultation with his supporters, who have stood by him for over five decades.
Amarinder’s resignation self-admission of party’s failures: Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Saturday that Amarinder Singh’s resignation from the post of Punjab Chief Minister is a self-admission on the part of the Congress and its high command that the party has failed to perform and has nothing to show in its more than four-and-a-half years of governance.
Asserting that this is a testimony to what the SAD has been stating all along, Badal said Amarinder Singh has been punished by nature for lying with ‘Gutka Sahib’ in hand and that every member of Congress would suffer the same fate.
He said a mere change of guard would not save the Congress’ sinking ship in Punjab adding that the entire state Cabinet as well as Congress MLAs are steeped in corruption and are running various kinds of mafia rackets, including sand, liquor and drugs mafias.
“The Congress cannot hope to save its incompetent government and befool the Punjabis with a mere change in face,” the SAD chief said.
Badal said the devious ploy of the Congress high command to avert a backlash against the party by putting the blame on one person alone would not succeed.
“Punjabis know that the entire Congress in Punjab is known for open loot and lawlessness. Its ministers and MLAs patronised gangsters. Its ministers looted the state exchequer of thousands of crores of rupees. It failed to undertake any development or infrastructure projects in the state,” he said.
Badal said Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi siblings — Rahul and Priyanka — could also not escape responsibility for making Punjabis suffer for more than four-and-a-half years.
“First of all, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were the force behind the election manifesto of the Congress for the 2017 Assembly elections. The Gandhi family not only kept Amarinder Singh in power, but also failed to move against any of his corrupt ministers. It also failed to prevail upon Amarinder Singh to fulfil the promises made to the people. Amarinder’s failure is the failure of Sonia Ganhi and Rahul Gandhi,” Badal said in a statement.