Former Punjab Chief Minister and BJP leader Captain Amarinder SIngh has expressed strong displeasure with the functioning of Punjab BJP ahead of the crucial 2027 assembly elections.
Speaking in Delhi, Singh said some of those currently handling affairs in Punjab had not even spent a year in the state’s politics, while leaders like him had been associated with the state for decades.
Captain Amarinder Singh said that senior leaders with decades of experience in Punjab politics should be consulted on matters concerning the state, asserting that he and his colleagues have witnessed its political developments over six decades.
“I have spent 60 years in Punjab politics. Some of the people managing things there haven’t even been around for a year. So, those of us who have spent so many years here, and I am not alone, I have other colleagues with me as well, what we have seen in Punjab, what we have done in Punjab, and the situations in Punjab we witnessed at one time, they don’t consult or ask us about those things,” Singh said.
‘We are people from here’
Singh said his remarks were not about demanding authority over party decisions, but about ensuring that the experience of local leaders was taken into account.
“This is what I said; we have joined a party, so ask us, as we are locals who live here,” he said.
He said he considered it his responsibility to communicate his views about Punjab to the party.
“It is my duty to tell them what my views and feelings are,” Singh said.
The former Chief Minister also stressed that his comments should not be interpreted as saying that his political relevance had ended in either the Congress or the BJP.
“I have not said that my relevance is no longer there in the Congress or the BJP. Parties keep changing,” he said.
Amarinder rules out leaving BJP
Addressing speculation over whether his criticism of the BJP’s handling of Punjab could signal another political move, Singh referred to his earlier shifts between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
“When I was in the Congress, I also went to the Akali Dal over Operation Blue Star and later returned to the Congress. That does not mean I will now leave and join another party,” he said.
Singh had left the Congress in 2021 and subsequently formed the Punjab Lok Congress. He merged the party with the BJP in 2022.
(with IANS inputs)
