In the midst of a high-octane campaign for the Punjab assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed on Thursday that Captain Amarinder Singh was removed from the post of Chief Minister because he refused to provide free electricity to the state’s poor people, citing his contract with the power companies.
“I will tell you why Captain Amarinder Singh was ousted as the Chief Minister of Punjab,” Gandhi said at a public gathering in poll-bound Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib. He did so because he refused to provide free electricity to the needy. “I have a contract with the power supply company,” he stated.
On February 13, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra argued that the Punjab government led by Amarinder Singh needed to be changed since it was being ruled from Delhi by the BJP. “It is true that for five years we had a government here, it is also true that there were some shortcomings in that government,” she remarked during a public meeting in Kotkapura, without identifying the former chief minister. Somewhere along the line, it became disoriented.”
“That administration withdrew from Punjab.” That administration began to flee from Delhi. Even in Delhi, the BJP and a BJP-led administration were in charge, not the Congress. The secret nexus has been revealed. That is why the government has to be replaced “Priyanka Gandhi had stated previously.
Following a power struggle with party MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was also selected as the state Congress president, Amarinder Singh was asked to resign as Punjab Chief Minister in September last year. Amarinder Singh’s replacement, Charanjit Singh Channi, was elected. Amarinder Singh, a key regional satrap for the Congress, had previously stated that he had never seen “this sort of influence ever as a chief minister” from the party.
After leaving the Congress, Amarinder Singh created the Punjab Lok Congress, which is running in the state assembly elections with the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), which is led by former Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Punjab will hold a single-phase election for the 117-member provincial assembly on February 20. On March 10th, the votes will be counted.
