Captain Amarinder Singh reacted with fury to Harish Rawat’s claim that he was ‘helping’ the Badal family | File Photo: PTI

Humiliated Amarinder may launch his own party – and tie up with BJP

The Federal
2 Oct 2021 4:52 PM IST

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh may have declared he won’t join the BJP but, if reports are to be believed, he is all set to launch his own political party and may tie up with the saffron party.

Hindustan Times reported that people familiar with Amarinder’s plans have given an insight into his mind after he recently met with home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah as well as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The news comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab next year and amid reports of Amarinder quitting the Congress party. “I’d fight my battle in the field, in the court of the people,” the Captain was reported as saying.

The Hindustan Times report also said that their sources could not “tell, however, whether (Amarinder’s) proposed tie-up would be predicated on the Union government taking steps to break the impasse over the three farm laws which are a hugely emotive issue in the state and have eroded the BJP’s popular base”.

The former CM plans to visit Delhi to meet with senior Congress leaders (known as G-23) and discuss the state of Punjab and the party unit there. “I’m going to tell the G-23 to hit the field, to reach out to people rather than expressing concerns in social media,” he was quoted as saying.

Amarinder had told the media after resigning from the Punjab CM’s post on September 18 that “I felt humiliated and personally I was hurt because my relations with the Gandhis go back to the days when Rajiv Gandhi and I were in Doon School in 1954”.

“If you doubt me after 50 years and my credibility is at stake, if there is no trust, what is the point of me staying in the party?” he had asked, adding: “I have made my stand very clear to the Congress that I will not be treated in this manner. I will not stand for it. I have not resigned from the Congress yet, but… I have made my stand clear. When there is no trust, one cannot continue”.

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