Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday, 21 October, called former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh the "architect" of the Centre's three contentious farm laws against which the farmers, across several states, have been protesting for over a year.
Sidhu's remark came just days after Captain Amarinder Singh made public that he is slated to launch his own party, hoping for a seat-sharing arrangement with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), if the farmers' protest is resolved ahead of the polls.
Posting a video of Amarinder Singh, Sidhu said in a tweet, “The Architect of 3 Black Laws … Who brought Ambani to Punjab’s Kisani … Who destroyed Punjab’s Farmers, Small traders and Labour for benefiting 1-2 Big Corporates !! (sic)”
Later on Thursday evening, while slamming AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, Captain Amarinder Singh said that the party has damaged its own interests by not trusting him and giving the party into the hands of an 'unstable person' like Navjot Sidhu.
On Wednesday, 20 October, while requesting the Congress party to relive him of his duty as Punjab party in-charge, Rawat had also commented on Amarinder Singh’s decision to form a new party and stated, "Who can stop him if he can't stay with his old commitment to secularism? He was considered a symbol of 'Sarvdharm Sam-bhaav' and was connected to Congress' traditions for long. If he wants to go, he should," Hindustan Times reported.
Responding to Rawat’s comments, the former chief minister said in a series of tweets, “Today you're accusing me of helping my rival Akali Dal for four and a half years. Is that why you think I've been fighting court cases against them for the last 10 years? And why I've won all elections in Punjab since 2017?"
Further, asking Rawat to stop talking about secularism, he added, "Don't forget Congress took in Navjot Singh Sidhu after he was with the BJP for 14 years. And where did Nana Patole and Revnath Reddy come from if not RSS? And Pargat Singh was with Akali Dal for four years!"
Punjab’s new chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, had replaced Captain Amarinder Singh after he resigned last month, after a drawn-out power tussle between himself and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)