Amarinder ditches Cong, BJP; new party theory floats around

The political scene in Punjab is awash with the ‘new party’ theory with ex-Chief Minister Amarinder Singh saying he is neither joining the BJP nor staying with the Congress.

Amarinder Singh made the statement after a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi recently. Sources close to Singh told mediapersons that he may float a new party within the next fortnight as the assembly elections are coming up. According to sources, various Congress leaders are in touch with Amarinder Singh, who is in constant talks with his supporters on the next move.

Also read: Not joining BJP, but won’t continue in Congress: Amarinder on meet with Shah

Amarinder Singh’s meeting with Amit Shah had caused a flutter and triggered much speculation about the former joining the BJP.

In the meeting, Amarinder Singh is said to have discussed the farm laws issue. He emphasised that he is not part of the Congress party anymore. He reportedly told the Union Minister that he would ensure that Navjot Singh Sidhu does not win the assembly elections. Sidhu was elevated as the Congress party Chief in Punjab. In the following weeks, Amarinder resigned as the chief minister of the state.

Also read: Amarinder loyalists urge him for floor test after Sidhu resigns as Punjab Cong chief

While Sidhu managed to bring in a chief minister from his camp, he too resigned as the party’s chief, plunging the already embattled Congress party into more crisis.

It is more or less certain that Sidhu would be back to being the PCC chief, but all eyes are on now on Amarinder.

Sidhu met Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday (September 30), which the sources suggest would possibly bring an end to the Congress’s tussle in the state.

Before resigning as the Chief Minister of Punjab, Amarinder had told Sonia Gandhi that he had been humiliated thrice by the party. In an NDTV interview on Thursday, Singh said that when his credibility is at stake, and there is no trust, “what is the point of me staying in the party?”

The upcoming Punjab assembly elections will be held in February or March 2022. According to a media report, one of Singh’s aides has said that even if the new party to be formed by Amarinder gains 40 seats in the upcoming assembly elections, “the political equations will change.” The media report also indicated that certain leaders are expected to join Amarinder due to the tussle in the Punjab Congress. In the 2017 assembly elections, Congress contested 117 seats and won 77.

The ball is in Amarinder’s court.