In an interview with ITV Network, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said: “Why I was removed only the high command can tell. I have done everything for the party and Punjab. 90 percent of the promises made in the election manifesto have been fulfilled and the work was on to complete the remaining ones.”
In response to a question, the Captain said, “PPCC president Navjot Sidhu is a Dangerous Man. He was hugging the Pakistani general when our soldiers were being killed in Kashmir. I cannot forgive such a person. He is an incompetent person. Wherever he contests from, I will put a strong candidate against him to ensure his defeat.”
The Captain said, “I don’t want to waste time talking about Sidhu. When he was raising questions on the government by tweeting again and again, then I told Soniaji and she scolded him; so the tweets stopped for a few days, but after that the CLP meeting was called without informing me.”
In response to a question, the Captain said, “Nothing is ever permanent in politics. I have resigned five times. I have also been the Agriculture Minister in the Barnala government. For my future course of action, I will discuss with my supporters and decide in two to three weeks what to do. Right now, I can’t say much more about the future.”
Regarding the day of his resignation, the Captain said, “That day I got a call from Sonia Gandhi at around 10 in the morning, but I was somewhere else at that time, so could not attend that. On seeing the missed call, I called her back and said that the CLP meeting has been called by the AICC; if you had asked me, I would have called. That’s not right, I’ll resign. She said ok and I resigned.”
On the allegations of being close to the BJP or Modi, he said, “As the Chief Minister of Punjab, I meet not only the Prime Minister but also other Union Ministers regarding the government, the state. Punjab is a border state, due to which one has to talk to the Home Minister many times and also have to meet. There were 20 virtual meetings with the Prime Minister. I cannot abstain from the meeting saying that I am the Chief Minister of a Congress-ruled state.”
“I have to meet the Finance Minister because money is needed for the state; he has to bring it from there itself. To what extent is it fair to say that I have any relation with BJP or Modi? I have always been loyal to the Congress,” the Captain added.
Talking about new CM Charanjit Singh Channi, the Captain said that while Channi was intelligent and well-educated, he, unfortunately, has no experience in managing home affairs, which was critical for Punjab that shares a 600km border with Pakistan, with things getting more and more serious over the years. On Channi’s announcement of waiver of power bills, he said Channi must have discussed it with the former Finance Minister and they must have thought of something. “I hope they don’t bankrupt the state,” he added.
Captain Amarinder Singh further said that he would fight PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s elevation to Punjab chief ministership tooth and nail, saying that he was ready to make any sacrifice for this. He reiterated his intention to counter any move to make Sidhu the state’s CM face. Asserting that he will only leave politics on a high, the former Chief Minister said, “I was ready to leave after victory, but never after a loss.” He disclosed that he had offered his resignation to Sonia Gandhi three weeks earlier, but she had asked him to continue. “If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have,” he said, adding that “as a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back.”
He said he had even told Sonia Gandhi that he was ready to hang his boots and allow someone else to take over as CM after leading the Congress to another sweeping win in Punjab. “But that did not happen, so I will fight,” he asserted. “I would not have taken MLAs on a flight to Goa or some place. That is not how I operate. I don’t do gimmicks, and the Gandhi siblings know that is not my way,” he said, adding, “Priyanka and Rahul (Gandhi siblings) are like my children…this should not have ended like this. I am hurt.” He said the Gandhi children were quite inexperienced and their advisors were clearly misguiding them.
Indicating that he was still keeping his political options open, the former Chief Minister said he was talking to his friends before deciding on his future course of action. “You can be old at 40 and young at 80,” he quipped, making it clear that he did not see his age as a hurdle. Referring to complaints that he was not taking arbitrary action against the Badals and Majithia in the sacrilege and drugs cases, the former Chief Minister said he believed in allowing the law to take its course. “But now these people who were complaining against me are in power, let them throw the Akalis leaders behind bars if they can!” he retorted.
Taking a jibe against Sidhu and others over allegations of not taking action against ministers involved in the mining mafia, he said: “Those very ministers are now with these leaders!” Ridiculing the way Punjab was being run from Delhi now, Captain Amarinder expressed shock at the way things were happening. Pointing out that as CM, he had called the shots and appointed his own ministers, as he knew the capability of each of them, he questioned how Congress leaders like Venugopal or Ajay Maken or Randeep Surjewala could decide who is good for which ministry.
The former Chief Minister said the PPCC should just decide on party affairs. “I had a very good PPCC president. I took his advice, but he never told me how to run the government,” he added, saying that with the way Sidhu was virtually dictating the terms is a sad situation for Punjab. “If Sidhu behaves as the super CM, the party won’t function,” he said, adding that under Sidhu, it would be a big thing if the Congress managed to touch double digits in Punjab polls.