Captain Amarinder Singh, who resigned as Punjab chief minister ten days ago citing 'humilation' by the Congress leadership, met Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter's residence in Delhi on Wednesday, raising speculation over his future in politics.
Sources close to Singh told News18 that he has "all his options open", adding fuel to speculations.
Capt Amarinder Singh meets Amit Shah; 'All options open', say Sources.@_pallavighosh and @maryashakil share more details.
Watch #News360 with @ShivaniGupta_5 pic.twitter.com/sfnjLqxaTA
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 29, 2021
The reported meeting comes at a time when the Punjab crisis is at its peak with a few months left before the Assembly election.
Sources told CNN-News18 that Singh also discussed farmers' issues with Shah.
#WATCH | Former Punjab CM and Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh reaches the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/787frIaou7
— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2021
Speculations were rife after Singh arrived in the National Capital on Tuesday evening but the Captain said he is in New Delhi to vacate his Kapurthala House, his Delhi residence. He had also said no political meetings were scheduled in Delhi.
His media adviser Raveen Thukral had also clarified that the reason for his visit was personal.
"Too much being read into Captain Amarinder Singh's visit to Delhi. He's on a personal visit, during which he'll meet some friends and also vacate Kapurthala house for the new CM. No need for any unnecessary speculation," tweeted Thukral.
Later, at the Chandigarh airport, Singh said, "I have to go for some work which I am going for. I have to hand over the Kapurthala House." He said the media was "unnecessarily indulging in speculation".
After resigning as Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh had also threatened to pit a strong candidate against his party rival Navjot Singh Sidhu in the upcoming polls. He called Sidhu a "drama master" and a "dangerous" man, accusing him of behaving like a "Super CM" with the new chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, "simply nodding along".
Whether Singh's plan of 'fielding a strong candidate' against Sidhu involves him joining any other party or floating a new party may become clear after the meeting with the home minister.
On Tuesday, triggering a fresh shock for the Congress, Sidhu – who hoped to succeed Singh in the top post - resigned. The Captain reacted saying, "I told you so."
'Collosal failure of Rahul Gandhi': BJP asserts stability in Punjab essential for national security
Asserting that stability in Punjab is essential for national security, the BJP on Wednesday hit out at the Congress over the political volatility in the border state and called it a "collosal failure" of Rahul Gandhi.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra expressed concern over the situation in Punjab and said the Congress, which is in power there, has become synonymous with "instability".
With Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation plunging the state into a fresh political crisis, Patra said the state has been plagued by a clash of ambitions.
He noted that senior Congress leaders like Manish Tewari have also expressed their concern over the situation in the state as Punjab's stability is important for national security.
Taking a swipe at the Congress leadership, he said the Gandhi family had gone to Shimla on vacation after replacing Amarinder Singh as chief minister.
"The entire episode has brought to fore the collosal failure of Rahul Gandhi," the BJP spokesperson said and accused the Congress of targeting journalists to divert the attention from the Punjab crisis.
Though he did not name any journalist but his comments appeared to be aimed at the strong reactions from some Congress leaders to the use of a cuss word by an anchor which seemed to be aimed at Gandhi. The woman anchor had apologised later.
"A woman journalist is being attacked and threatened," he said and asked media bodies like the NBA and Editors Guild to take cognizance.
In this context he also targeted Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and alleged that the Congress' "Emergency attitude" is on display.
In a tweet, Baghel had said that Congress members will never tolerate indecent language against Gandhi.
The BJP, Patra said, salutes the media as fourth pillar of democracy.
With the Congress leaders like Amarinder Singh rejecting Gandhi's leadership, the party is venting its frustration on the media, he claimed.
With inputs from PTI
September 29, 2021 at 07:27PM
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