Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Captain Amarinder Singh (retd.) on Monday dubbed former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s claims of deciding the chief ministerial face with inputs from the ground as farce and just theatrics.
After filing his nomination papers from Patiala Urban, Capt. Amarinder said that as per procedure, people elected their MLAs and then the CLP elected the chief minister “and so all this talk is just drama.”
Farmers contesting polls
Asked to comment on farmers’ decision to contest the polls, he stated that it was their right to do so. He personally had always supported them, he stressed. He pointed out that his government had announced jobs and ₹5 lakhs to the kin of each of the farmers who died during the agitation against the Central farm laws.
Capt. Amarinder exuded confidence of the PLC-BJP-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance would form the next government in Punjab. He observed that the decision to allow some of the PLC candidates to contest on the BJP symbol was taken keeping in mind the voter demographics. “While four PLC candidates will contest on the BJP symbol in urban segments, two of their candidates will fight on the PLC symbol in the rural constituencies.”
Hitting out at Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Capt. Amarinder predicted an abysmal defeat for the former from Amritsar East. “With 38% of the voters in Amritsar East being Hindus and 32% SCs, his defeat is certain. The BJP has fielded a strong candidate from the constituency, he added.
