Amarinder Singh takes potshot at Punjab CM Channi, says 'He will end up a night watchman'

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh took a potshot at his successor Charanjit Singh Channi saying that despite his 'tremendous potential', the Punjab CM would end up as a 'night watchman'. Hitting out at the Congress for making Channi 'subservient' to the whims of PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Captain Amarinder remarked that "no self-respecting leader should accept such humiliation."

“Channi will eventually end up as a night watchman only,” the Captain said adding that it was “unprecedented” that a chief minister was made subservient to the PPCC president. 

“No self-respecting leader should accept such humiliation,” the former Punjab chief minister was quoted by PTI as saying.

Singh's remark came after Sidhu was appointed as the chairman of the Congress Election Committee for Punjab, while Channi was included as a 'member'. The latest development has sent a clear message that Congress had decided to put its weight behind Sidhu and shift incumbent CM Channi in the backseat for the Punjab Assembly polls 2022. Apart from Sidhu and Channi, Ambika Soni, former Punjab Congress chief and campaign committee chairman Sunil Jakhar, and chairman of manifesto committee Partap Singh Bajwa, have also been inducted into the committee. 

Captain gears up for 2022 polls

After officially resigning from the Congress, in a scorching 7-page letter to Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder Singh announced his new political outfit-- 'Punjab Lok Congress'. The former chief minister is looking to forge an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming polls and has decided to contest on all 117 seats, and lead his solo fight from Patiala.

Apart from the BJP, Singh also informed that he will hold talks with breakaway outfits of the Akali Dal and has vowed to form a united front to defeat the Congress in Punjab. On December 11, the former CM announced three spokespersons and 10 district presidents for the newly-formed outfit. The names include some loyalists of the former CM including newly inducted leader Pritpal Singh Baliawal who resigned from the Congress recently.

Punjab Assembly elections

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured three seats. Punjab is scheduled to elect its new Assembly representatives in 2022.

(With agency inputs)