Harish Rawat, Capt Amarinder Singh in war of words post Amit Shah meet

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Chandigarh, Oct 1

A day after Capt Amarinder Singh declared he would quit the Congress which had “insulted him”, the party launched a frontal attack on the veteran dismissing the charge of humiliation and said the former CM did not deliver on poll promises and ran the government from his farmhouse.

• Also read: Congress reaches out to Majha brigade

AICC general secretary incharge of Punjab Harish Rawat also questioned Captain Amarinder’s secular credentials in the wake of the latter’s meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah.

“At this time, Captain Amarinder should have stood shoulder to shoulder with Congress chief to save democracy. We hope he will not come under any pressure to directly or indirectly help the BJP. His secular credentials are on test,” said Rawat in Uttarakhand.

The former CM hit back, saying the “world saw his humiliation” and that the “only pressure he had was of his own loyalty to the Congress” because of which he continued to tolerate insults after insults by PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. He said even his enemies could not doubt his secular credentials.

Veterans take swipe at one another

Even after his defeat from Patiala in 1998, Capt was inducted into the Congress and appointed state chief thrice and CM twice. Harish Rawat, AICC General Secretary

I have worked with stalwarts like Pranab Mukherjee, Motilal Vora and others but never had a problem. I fail to understand Rawat’s actions. Capt Amarinder Singh, Ex-CM

The Congress, through Rawat, attacked Captain for the first time publicly, saying MLAs were restless over his “non-performance” and 43 wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking his replacement. Rawat said the CLP meeting had to be called to prevent anything “untoward” as MLAs had threatened to call their own meeting otherwise.

“After meeting Shah, the theory of humiliation is being circulated to gain sympathy. The humiliation-based sympathy politics may help a person but it will not help Punjab. Captain Amarinder was controlling both the government and party from his farmhouse. No one asked him a question regarding absence from the secretariat,” said Rawat. The AICC general secretary added despite reminders, Captain Amarinder “failed to keep his promises on Bargari, drugs and electricity and there was a general perception that he and the Badals have a secret understanding”.

The former CM dismissed Rawat’s claims as “outrageous”, saying these were prompted by the party’s “pathetic situation after being on a winning spree in the state for four and a half years”.

“Three weeks before stepping down as CM, I had offered to resign but Sonia Gandhi told me to continue. The humiliating manner in which I was pushed into resigning hours before the CLP meeting is a matter of public record. The world saw the humiliation,” he said.

‘Why Sidhu still dictating terms?’

• Capt Amarinder Singh sought to know “if the party did not intend to humiliate me then why was Sidhu allowed to openly criticise and attack me on social media for months? Why did the party give rebels, led by Sidhu, a free hand in undermining my authority?”
• He further sought to know why the Congress was allowing Sidhu even now to hold the party to ransom and continue to dictate terms.
• “What pressure does he exert on leadership that they are so defenceless against him and are allowing him to have his way?”