Amarinder Singh resigns as Punjab Chief Minister

Over 50 MLAs in the party had reportedly written to Sonia Gandhi seeking that Amarinder Singh be replaced, just about four months ahead of Assembly elections in Punjab.
Amarinder Singh
Amarinder Singh
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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh submitted his resignation from the post to Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday, September 18. The decision came after a meeting of legislators close to the Chief Minister at his official residence in Chandigarh. Raninder Singh, Captain Amarinder Singh's son, tweeted a picture of his father handing over his resignation to the Punjab Governor after a press conference on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Amarinder Singh phoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and expressed his anguish over the "humiliation" meted to him, sources told PTI. Over 50 MLAs in the party had reportedly written to Sonia Gandhi seeking that Amarinder Singh be replaced as Chief Minister, a development that comes just about four months ahead of Assembly elections in the state. The MLAs, in their letter, sought the convening of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, held on Friday at the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh. The high command had deputed senior party leaders Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary as central observers.

The All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge for Punjab affairs of the party, Harish Rawat, was also present during the meeting. The sources termed the current crisis amidst the party in Punjab "serious", as many MLAs had sought Amarinder Singh's replacement so close to elections.

Trouble between the CLP and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the two factions of the Congress in the state, has been brewing for a long time and Amarinder Singh was strongly opposed to Navjot Singh Sidhu's appointment as PCC chief.

Sidhu has been at loggerheads with Amarinder Singh ever since he quit the Punjab cabinet as a minister in 2019. Sidhu's principal strategic adviser and former IPS officer Mohd Mustafa in a tweet said it is the time to have a "Congress CM" after a "long agonising wait" of four and a half years. "Today is the time for course correction," Mustafa said, referring to the meeting on Saturday.

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