Amarinder Singh calls Rahul Gandhi and Prianka Gandhi ‘inexperienced’
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday called Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra “inexperienced” and also threatened to pit a strong candidate against state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in the coming assembly polls.
In no-holds-barred remarks, 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”.
He also claimed that Punjab is now being run by the party from Delhi, according to a press statement issued here by an aide who summed up his interactions with the media.
Singh resigned as chief minister on Saturday, after being locked in a bitter leadership fight for months with Sidhu.
He submitted his resignation just ahead of the Congress Legislature Party meeting, which he said was called in a “secretive” manner.
“Priyanka and Rahul are like my children. This should not have ended like this. I am hurt,” the Congress veteran said.
“I would not have taken MLAs on a flight to Goa or some place. That is not how I operate. I don’t do gimmicks and the Gandhi siblings know that is not my way,” he said, in a possible reference to other states where the CMs have resorted to shows of strength.
The “Gandhi children” are quite “inexperienced” and their advisers are clearly “misguiding” them, he said.
Singh said he will only leave politics on a high. “I was ready to leave after victory but never after a loss,” he said. He reiterated that his “options” are still open.
The former CM said he had offered his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi three weeks earlier but she asked him to continue.