Captain Amarinder on Thursday said he would not join the BJP, but would not stay in Congress, dispelling any speculations of joining BJP.
Rumors were running around that Captain Amarinder Singh was going to join BJP after resigning as the Punjab chief minister. The former Punjab chief minister, who has been in Delhi since Tuesday, had met Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday. Singh said he discussed the ongoing farmers ‘protests and urged Shah to take back the farm laws.
In an interview with a news channel, when asked if he was still a ‘Congressman’, Singh said, “So far, but I will not remain in the Congress”. “I have not resigned from the Congress yet, but I will resign. I am not one of those who take a decision in a split second,” Singh said in an interview to news channel NDTV. “I will not be treated in this manner. I have been in party politics for 52 years. I have my own beliefs and my own principles. They told me at 10.30 am to resign, I gave my resignation to the Punjab Governor at 4 pm,” he said. “If my credibility is at stake after 50 years, what is the point in staying,” he added.
Captain Amarinder Singh also made it evident that he was not going to join the BJP. “No I am not joining BJP,” he said in response to a question. Asked if he was going to launch his own party, he said, “You will get to know when it happens”. “One has to weigh all pros and cons, but I will not stay in the Congress… I will not go to BJP,” he told NDTV.
On Thursday, he also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. In his interview with NDTV, he said he met Mr Doval to discuss security issues. Mr Singh, who is in Delhi in the midst of speculations of him joining the BJP, had met the Home Minister at his residence on Wednesday evening. The meeting lasted for around 45 minutes. He later tweeted that he had met the Home Minister to discuss the farmers’ protests.
Before he landed in Delhi, his media advisor Raveen Thukral had said he was coming to Delhi on a personal visit. However, many heard through the grapevine that that he was joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially after his meeting with the Home Minister on Wednesday evening. Singh had resigned as the Punjab CM on September 18 saying that he was feeling “humiliated”.
After this, he hit out at Navjot Singh Sidhu, and said he should not be made the chief minister of Punjab, a border state. Singh had accused Sidhu of being a “friend of Pakistan”, and said him being in the top position in the state may lead to a security threat for the country. The Congress eventually chose Charanjit Singh Channi for the post of the chief minister. Sidhu meanwhile stepped down from his position of Punjab Congress chief on Tuesday and sent his resignation to interim party president Sonia Gandhi. However, Sidhu’s resignation has not yet been accepted by the party high command.
