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

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday (September 30) quashed rumours of joining the BJP, a day after he met Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, but said that he wouldn’t continue in the Congress as well due to the treatment meted out to him.

“So far I am in the Congress, but I will not remain in the Congress. I will not be treated in this manner,” he told NDTV.

Singh had stepped down from the chief minister’s post on September 18 after a protracted feud with his bete noire Navjot Singh Sidhu. Singh had told the media that he felt “humiliated” the way he was treated by the Congress leadership.

“I have been in politics for 52 years. The way I have been treated. At 10.30 am the Congress president says ‘you resign’. I didn’t ask any questions. At 4 pm, I went to the governor and resigned. 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 told NDTV on Thursday.

Asserting that he will not allow the leadership to humiliate him further, Singh hinted that he may resign soon.

“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 how can one continue in a place where there is a trust deficit. I have made my stand clear. When there is no trust, one cannot continue,” he said.

Also read: Sidhu agrees to ‘meet and discuss’ after Channi extends olive branch

Singh’s statement comes amid a fresh wave of turmoil in the Punjab Congress unit over the resignation of Sidhu as the state unit president.

Calling Sidhu a “childish man” who has been given a serious job by the leadership, Singh said he is fit only for theatrics and not for governance.

“Sidhu is an immature person. I have said this repeatedly that he is not a stable man. He is not a team player. He is a loner. How will he handle the Punjab Congress as its chief? For that you need to be a team player, which Sidhu is not,” he said.

“Sidhu is good at creating a scene. He can do what he did in Kapil Sharma’s show and get a crowd, but he is not a serious guy. How can a non-serious person be taking serious, major decisions in the running of a party and the state government? He can only do theatrics,” he added.

Referring to a survey conducted by the Congress between July and September, Singh hinted that the party is disintegrating in Punjab while internal conflicts take centre-stage. The survey says that party is steadily losing its popularity to Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and is on a 20 per cent decline.

The Congress is said to have sent senior leaders Ambika Soni and Kamal Nath to convince Singh for a truce. But Singh reportedly has not been keen on it, neither on having a discussion with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on his predicament.

Singh on Thursday also met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to reportedly discuss the border security issue in Punjab.