PremiumListen to this article |
Capt Amarinder Singh met Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Saturday and submitted his resignation as the state chief minister.
“I had informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi this morning that I will be tendering my resignation today. The party seemed to have an element of doubt that I could not run the government. I feel humiliated," said Singh after resigning, adding that he had been summoned thrice over the last two months by the central leadership.
He further informed that he continues to be a part of the Congress party. "I will consult with my supporters and decide the future course of action," he said.
Singh said that the party high command can make whoever they have faith in the next CM.
The development comes just four months ahead of assembly elections in Punjab.
Earlier in the day, Amarinder Singh's son Raninder had confirmed that the CM will tender his resignation amid a power tussle in Punjab.
“…indeed must go now as I am proud to accompany my father to Raj Bhawan when he submits his resignation as CM of Punjab and leads us as head of our family into a new beginning et all," Raninder wrote on Twitter.
The decision came after a meeting of legislators close to the chief minister at his official residence in Chandigarh.
Factionalism had against surfaced in the state Congress as 50 MLAs wrote to Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, seeking that Amarinder Singh be replaced as chief minister.
When the tussle in Punjab escalated in August, the party's central leadership had sought to bury the hatchet by appointing Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Congress chief apparently against the desire of Amarinder Singh.
Singh, who was Captain during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, took the oath as the 26th chief minister of Punjab in 2017 after Congress won the assembly elections with the majority.
He served as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee from 2010 to 2013.
Singh had served as a member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for five terms representing Patiala (Urban) thrice and Samana and Talwandi Sabo once each.
In 2015, he was again elected as President of the Punjab Congress. Singh resigned from Lok Sabha on November 23, 2016, and fully dedicated himself to Punjab polls and the party came in power in the state with a majority.
