While stepping down as the chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in which he expressed anguish on the “political events of last about five months”, his office said today.
Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday wrote to Congress President expressing anguish at political events of the last about 5 months, which he said were clearly “not based on full understanding of the national imperatives of Punjab and its key concerns,” his office said.
“Notwithstanding my personal anguish, I hope this will not cause any damage to the hard-earned peace and development in the State, and that the efforts I have been focusing during the last few years, would continue unabated, ensuring justice to one and all,” he wrote.
At the same time, he expressed satisfaction at having done his best for the people as the chief minister of Punjab, which, as a border state, “has many geo-political and other internal security concerns, which I tried to handle effectively without any compromise.”
He said he was happy that the state remained “fully peaceful, and there was complete communal harmony with no ill-will towards anyone”. While she (Sonia) herself may be personally aware of some of the things achieved in the last four and a half years, “the people of Punjab are looking up to the Indian National Congress for its mature and effective public policies, which not only reflect upon good politics, but also address the concerns of the common man that are specific to this border state,” wrote Singh, while informing the Congress president about his decision to demit his post.
On the issues on which his government has faced criticism from not just the Opposition but also from a section of party’s state leaders, he gave details of various steps taken by his government on the sacrilege incident and other such issues including the drug menace.
Singh, one of the party’s powerful regional satraps, resigned from the post of chief minister after speaking to Sonia Gandhi with less than five months to go for the Assembly polls, saying he felt ‘humiliated‘. It is believed that Gandhi asked Singh to step down rather than being humiliated in this way.
The long-time Congress leader even hinted at quitting the party, speaking to reporters Saturday. “I am feeling humiliated. I have been in politics for 52 years. I will talk to my supporters and then I will decide on my future in politics,” Captain Amarinder stated.
The fallout came as a result of the months long stalemate between Singh and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been calling out against Singh’s way of handling the government. After quitting as the CM, Singh launched a no-holds-barred attack on Sidhu, describing his bete noire, a cricketer-turned-politician, as a “total disaster”.
The names of former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, the party’s current state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa are doing the rounds to succeed Captain as the chief minister. Meanwhile, senior party leader Ambika Soni rejected the offer of chief ministerial post in a late-night meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, saying that the new chief minister should be from the Sikh community.