New Delhi: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat, has responded to allegations leveled by Captain Amarinder Singh after the latter announced his decision to leave the party.
Talking to the media on Friday, Harish Rawat refuted the claims of the former Punjab chief minister who had alleged that he felt “humiliated” as the meeting of the Congress legislative party (CLP) was called without informing him.
Talking about the CLP meeting issue, Harish Rawat said that Congress MLAs approached him and they insisted on having the meeting, or else they said they would go on to take any steps on their own.
“I tried for 3 days but could not manage to talk to my (then) chief minister. People of Punjab will understand what I am saying. To avoid any unfortunate developments within the party, we decided to call the CLP meeting and I informed the honorable chief minister about the same through other sources and also informed his office bearers,” Harish Rawat said, in response to Amarinder Singh’s claim of not being informed.
The Punjab affairs in-charge also responded to the remarks of Captain Amarinder Singh where he had said that he felt “humiliated” by the Congress party.
Harish Rawat contended that the party has always treated him with respect citing how Singh served as the Punjab Congress President thrice and was the state’s Chief Minister for 9.5 years.
“Amarinder Singh should compare himself with other veteran leaders who have not been given these many opportunities,” he stated while speaking to the media in Dehradun.
In reference to the recent meeting between Captain Amarinder Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Harish Rawat said: “Earlier, there was a perception that Captain is involved with the Akalis. Today, I am saddened to say that the recent statements (by Amarinder Singh) appear to have been given under some pressure”.
“The ruling party (BJP), which is completely discredited in Punjab and who the farmers and the people see as the state’s opponent, wants to use Amarinder Singh as a mask (mukhota). I urge Amarinder Singh to not help BJP, which is anti-Punjab and anti-farmers, directly or indirectly in their attempt to use him as their mask,” he added.
The rebuttal comes after Amarinder Singh had on Thursday clarified that he will not join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but will exit Congress. “I will be leaving the Congress party. I am not remaining in Congress, I am not joining the BJP,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
He also remarked that he will not let Navjot Singh Sidhu win if he contests in the upcoming Punjab assembly election: “I had said it before also that Navjot Singh Sidhu is not the right man for Punjab, and if he contests, I will not let him win…”.