Bitter parting: Amarinder resigns from Cong, names new party Punjab Lok Congress

Singh had quit as the Punjab chief minister in September amid a bitter power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu

Chandigarh:Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress, sending party president Sonia Gandhi a bitter letter that slammed her over a “conspiracy” to oust him and timing the move with the announcement of the name of his new party.

Singh's yet to be formally launched outfit will be called the Punjab Lok Congress. Its registration and the allotment of a poll symbol are pending with the Election Commission.

Amarinder Singh's resignation letter, made public on Twitter, ran into seven pages that lashed out at Navjot Singh Sidhu, the new Punjab Congress president, and Harish Rawat, the former AICC in-charge for the state whom he called a "dubious individual".

Singh recalled old ties with the Gandhi family.

“I actually felt deeply hurt by your conduct and that of your children who I still deeply love as much as my own children, having known their father, since we were in school together since 1954, which is for 67 years now,” he wrote.

Singh had resigned as the Punjab chief minister in September amid a bitter power tussle with Sidhu, the ex-cricketer favoured over him by the party high command.

Days later, he had made clear that he will quit the Congress and float his own party. He didn't rule out a tie-up with the BJP – if the farmers' issue is settled – and other parties, ahead of next year's assembly polls in the state.

In the letter, Singh told Sonia Gandhi that despite knowing him “for the better part of his 52 years in public life” and that too at a deeply personal level “you never understood me or my character”.

“You thought I was getting on in years and should be put to pasture. I am neither tired nor retired. I feel I have a lot to give and contribute to my beloved Punjab. I intend to soldier on and not fade away,” he wrote.

He again expressed disappointment over Sidhu being made the state party chief.

“Despite my profound reservations and over the unanimous advice of almost all the MPs from Punjab, you chose to appoint an acolyte of the Pakistani deep state Navjot Sidhu who had publicly hugged the Pakistan Army Chief Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan, as the president of the Punjab Congress Committee.”

The former CM called Khan and Bajwa the people responsible for sending terrorists across the border to kill Indians.

“Sidhu's only claim to fame was that he would abuse me and my government on a regular basis. I am old enough to be his father but that did not stop him from using the filthiest and most vile language against me both publicly and privately,” he said.

He accused Sonia Gandhi's children, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, of taking Sidhu's side.

“Unfortunately rather than being reined in, he was patronised by Rahul and Priyanka, while you chose to turn a blind eye to the shenanigans of this gentleman who was aided and abetted by the General Secretary In-charge Harish Rawat, perhaps the most dubious individual I had the occasion to make acquaintance of.”

Singh wrote angrily about the Congress Legislature Party meeting in September that was apparently meant to oust him from the CM's post.

“The most egregious act was the midnight conspiracy carried out against me at your and your children's behest by calling a CLP meeting over my head in the dead of the night and that too through Twitter,” Singh said.

“It was my prerogative as the CLP leader to have called the meeting if the AICC desired it. It was only early next morning that a colleague informed me that such an outrageous act has been committed,” he wrote.

"You called me at 10.15 am next morning and asked me to resign. I did so without batting even an eyelid. However, the crude manner in which the whole operation was executed by the undertakers of the AICC left a very foul taste in the mouth," he added.

Singh said he hoped that no other senior Congress member is subjected to the “ignominy” that he was put through in the last few months.

“I hereby tender my resignation from the Indian National Congress in the interest of my state and my country,” he wrote.

PTI