Amarinder Singh to form 'Punjab Vikas Party': Sources
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Oct, 2021 10:52 AM
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is soon going to announce a new party. According to sources, the name of Captain's new party will be 'Punjab Vikas Party'.
According to sources, Amarinder Singh will convene a meeting of leaders close to him in a few days to consider the formation of his new party, which will include all the leaders of the anti-Sidhu faction.
Earlier, the Captain had said that his first goal is to defeat former Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu. In such a situation, a strong contender will be fielded in the upcoming Assembly elections against Sidhu from his newly-formed party.
Meanwhile, Singh will also contact all the farmers' leaders of Punjab. He will also get in touch with small parties, sources said.
On Thursday, Amarinder Singh said: "I have been in politics for 52 years, but they treated me like this. At 10.30 Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked me to resign. I did not ask any question. At 4 o'clock I went to the Governor and submitted my resignation. If you still doubt me after 50 years... My credibility is at stake and there is no trust, then there is no point in being in the party."
After this statement, he announced that he was quitting the Congress. He made it clear that he was leaving the Congress, but will not join the BJP. He also said that he was deeply hurt by the humiliation that he had to face from the top leadership of the Congress.
It is not the first time that Amarinder Singh has announced to quit the Congress party.
In 1980 he won the Lok Sabha elections on the Congress symbol, but after the Operation Blue Star in 1984, he left the Congress to join the Akali Dal. He rejoined the Congress in 1998.
Referring to alleged reports of snooping of prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware, senior BJP leader and union minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday said that these kinds of stories are concocted, fabricated and have no evidence.
On Wednesday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to the Jantar Mantar demonstration on the condition that a maximum of 200 protesters will be allowed till August 9 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sidhu sent an invite, signed by some 62 legislators, through working presidents, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian, to the 'sulking' Chief Minister to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
In a statement here, Badal said it was condemnable that the NDA government had targeted Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and the Bharat Samachar group because they had posed tough questions to the government in keeping with high standards of journalism.
In a written reply to parliamentarian Binoy Viswam in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (External Affairs) V.A. Muraleedharan said during the unprecedented crisis, the international community came forward with offers of solidarity and assistance for specific medicines and equipment that were not immediately available in the country.
With the Pegasus snoopgate leading to ruckus in the Parliament, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the news story on snooping was an attempt to malign India's democracy and its institutions.
