Captain, Congress engage in war of words after former Punjab CM says he will quit party

Amarinder Singh said that he would leave the Congress as he had been 'utterly humiliated' and was not trusted

A day after former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh raised "humiliation" charge and announced he will quit Congress, the party central leadership on Friday rebutted his charge, reminding him how it gave him top positions even after his defeat and saw "some pressure" from outside behind his remarks.

AICC in-charge for Punjab Harish Rawat issued a detailed statement on the sequence of events and alleged that the BJP wants to "use Amarinder Singh as a mask" and urged the former Chief Minister not to let this happen and reconsider the remarks he made about Congress.

The remarks came after Singh had a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday and NSA Ajit Doval on Thursday after which he said he will leave the Congress but will not join BJP, amid indications that he will form a new political outfit in Punjab.

"After meeting Amit Shah and BJP’s contact man, the theory of humiliation is being circulated to gain the sympathy of the people. The humiliation-based sympathy politics may help a person, but it will not help Punjab," said Rawat in a statement.

Read | 'Can't handle insult': Amarinder Singh to quit Congress

Hitting back, the former Chief Minister asked if Congress didn't intend to humiliate him, why did they let Navjot Sidhu attack him on public platforms for months and give rebels led by Sidhu a free hand in undermining his authority?

'What hold does Sidhu still have on the party?’ Captain said rejecting Rawat's claims as "outrageous" and asked why he kept him in the dark on party leadership's stance & claimed just weeks ago that 2022 polls would be fought under him?.

"Even my worst critics can't doubt my secular credentials. But I'm no longer surprised that a senior and seasoned Congress leader like Rawat is questioning them. It's evident I'm no longer trusted in Congress, which I've served loyally for years," the former CM said.

"Three weeks before quitting I offered my resignation to Sonia Gandhi & she said no. Then I was forced to resign just hours before the CLP meeting, which was clearly convened to oust me. What was this if not humiliation? We spoke just a day before the CLP meeting was called. Harish Rawat told me then there was nothing in the works & even claimed he had not seen any letter sent by 43 MLAs. I am shocked at the blatant way in which he is now lying about this," he said.

Singh flagged that he had said on the day of his resignation, long before meeting Shah that he had been "humiliated thrice by Congress" and hence what Rawat is saying "nonsense". "Any suggestion of a link between my humiliation remark & meeting with the Union Home Minister is nonsense," he said.

Rawat's statement made no mention of Sidhu but sought to highlight the "humble background" of Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab from Congress after Captain's resignation.

Also Read | Rejuvenation of Congress must not marginalise loyalists

Rawat said the party expected the former Chief Minister to "bless" him but that did not happen.

In an indication that days of niceties between the Captain and the party's central leadership are over, the Congress statement said tersely that despite continuous reminders from his colleagues and the leadership, unfortunately, Captain "failed to keep his promises on important issues like Bargadi, drugs, electricity etc."

It also reminded him that "even after suffering a crushing defeat from Patiala Constituency in 1998", he was inducted into the Congress Party and immediately appointed by Sonia Gandhi, as the President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee on three occasions from 1999 to 2002, 2010 to 2013 and 2015 to 2017.

"Twice, the Congress Party made him the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007 and 2017 to 2021. As the Chief Minister, he was given a complete free hand," Rawat said.

"There was a general perception throughout the state that Captain and the Badals are helping each other, and they have a secret understanding. I was always politely suggesting to him to initiate action on our election promises. At least five times I discussed these issues with Captain sahib but with no result," Rawat said days after the former CM hit out at Gandhi siblings- Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, calling them "inexperienced" and being misguided by their advisors.

Rawat said Singh "did not implement even one out of eighteen points agreed upon," and "forgot about his promises" even after a time bound implementation course was discussed and mutually agreed later.

"Born out of his stubbornness, he was of the belief that he does not need any advice from anyone, including his own MLAs and Ministers and party leadership," Rawat said recalling how he repeatedly went to his house and had lengthy discussions to implement five points later but it did not happen.

"The Congress MLAs and Ministers were getting restless. As a result, in a written letter to the Party leadership, 43 MLAs told the party that despite repeated efforts we could not get anything done by Captain Amarinder Singh, so please call a CLP meeting otherwise we are going to call a separate meeting. Then I tried to contact Amarinder Singh ji thrice, but I could not get him on telephone. Then through one of his well-wishers I sent him a message that there is a demand for a CLP meeting, and we have no option but to call the CLP meeting.

"Despite getting the message, Captain Amarinder Singh didn't bother to telephone me. Then I suggested to the party high command, that if we delay the matter then many MLAs may form a separate group or may create some more problems for the party. It was then decided to call a CLP meeting. I then officially informed Captain Amarinder Singh that the party had called a CLP meeting and requested him to attend the meeting," Rawat said, detailing the sequence of events which ultimately led to Captain's resignation.

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