Amarinder's exit will not affect the party: Congress
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Oct, 2021 10:58 AM
New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Congress leaders on Wednesday said the exit of senior party leader and former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh -- who announced forming a new party -- will not affect the prospects of the Congress.
The issue was up for deliberation on Wednesday during the meeting between the party leaders and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Congress' Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat.
The Congress is currently preparing an estimation of the number of leaders who are likely to quit.
However, sources say that people close to Singh are unlikely to quit the party.
The Congress leaders are watching his moves ahead of the new party formation and sources say that all the Congress members have distanced themselves after he worked out a "patch up formula" with the BJP.
Congress' Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat said "his decision will not make any difference to Congress".
"The party's performance will depend on the work of the new chief minister (Charanjit Singh Channi), and he is doing well," Rawat added.
Talking about Amarinder Singh, the former Uttarakhand chief minister said "it seems that he has killed the secular Amarinder within him... and how can he forgive the BJP for keeping the farmers on Delhi borders since the last one year."
The Punjab unit has been asked to keep an eye on the movements of the rebels and to pacify them ahead of the elections and dissuade them from joining the former Chief Minister.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said "we have no fear... if Amarinder goes with the BJP, there must be some pressure on him."
Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that he would soon announce the launch of his own political party to serve the interests of the people, including the farmers who have been fighting for their rights for almost a year now.
He said that he is hopeful of a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP for next year's Assembly elections in the state, if the farmers' issues are resolved in their interest.
In a series of tweets, his media advisor Raveen Thukral quoted Amarinder Singh as saying: "The battle for Punjab's future is on. Will soon announce the launch of my own political party to serve the interests of Punjab and its people, including our farmers who've been fighting for their survival for over a year."
Senior SAD leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra, Maheshinder Grewal and Daljit Cheema on Tuesday said it was most unfortunate that even after admitting that some wrong elements wanted to defame the 'kisan sangharsh', Rajewal had neither secured an unconditional apology from those guilty of hooliganism nor subjected them to the process of law.
The Prime minister further said that the visit would be an occasion to consolidate relations with our strategic partners - Japan and Australia - and to take forward our collaboration on important global issues. In a departure statement, the Prime Minister said he will be visiting the US from September 22-25 at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
The Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it is an important development in support of reaching the 40 per cent vaccination target in all countries by the end of this year.
The charge made by the BJP functionary comes a day after Kejriwal during his visit to poll-bound Goa on Tuesday, announced 80 per cent reservation in private sector jobs, Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 doles for the unemployed youth and families who have lost employment due to Covid respectively as well as setting up of a Skill university in the state.
Even as he reiterated his intention to counter any move to make Sidhu the state's Chief Minister face, Amarinder Singh said he will pit a strong candidate against him in the 2022 Assembly polls to ensure his defeat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Goa have been engaged in a war of words and pre-poll announcements over the last few months ahead of the state Assembly polls, which are due in the coastal state in early 2022.
