Chandigarh, Nov 29 (IANS) Former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress rebel Amarinder Singh on Monday called on Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar here.
The duo described the surprise meeting as 'courtesy call'.
After the meeting, Amarinder Singh told the media that his party will form the next government in Punjab along with the BJP and a breakaway Akali faction.
"There was no political interaction. It was a courtesy meeting. I had a nice cup of coffee with the Chief Minister," Smarinder Singh said.
On his former party colleagues joining his Punjab Lok Congress ahead of next year's Assembly elections in Punjab, Amarinder Singh said, "Wait for the time. Everything is going fine. People are very upbeat and our membership drive is going string.
"With our seat adjustment with the BJP and with (Sukhdev Singh) Dhindsa party, we will form the government."
Amarinder Singh had earlier said that any seat arrangement he made with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be subject to a resolution of the farmers' issues in their interest.
On November 2, Amarinder Singh had resigned from the Congress and sent a seven-page letter to interim party President Sonia Gandhi.
He named his party Punjab Lok Congress.
Amarinder Singh had quit as the Chief Minister in September after a power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
In a statement here, he said the worst has started coming true as the Taliban have started showing their true colours by way of complete intolerance towards the minorities leading to their intimidation and destruction of their religious places.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders met the family of deceased farmer Lovepreet at the Chaukhada farm in Palia at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. They later met the family of journalist Raman Kashyap, who was also killed in violence.
9 persons, including four farmers, were killed in the violence that had erupted during a farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri. A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli will hear the matter on Thursday. The matter has been listed as 'violence in Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) leading to loss of life'.
Canadian MP Tim S. Uppal said he was shocked to learn about the brazen attack on protesting farmers. Another Canadian MP Ruby Sahota said she was heartbroken to learn about the violence directed at protesting farmers.
The demand made by citizens primarily mirrored their right to clean air and the right to breathe, underlining the reality that Punjab is home to some of India's most polluted towns, including Mandi Gobindgarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, and Patiala.
The case was assigned to the division bench of Justices A.G. Masih and Ashok Kumar Verma. Earlier, the case was being heard by the bench of Justices Rajan Gupta and Ajay Tewari but the latter recused himself from hearing the case on September 1.
