Amid the high-octane campaign for Punjab assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Captain Amarinder Singh was removed from the post of Chief Minister because he denied providing free electricity to the poor people of the state, citing his contract with the power supply companies.
Addressing a public rally in poll-bound Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib, Gandhi said, “I will tell you why was Captain Amarinder Singh removed as the Chief Minister of Punjab. It is because he did not agree to provide free electricity to the poor people. He said I have a contract with the Power supply companies.”
On February 13, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had claimed that the Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government had to be replaced as it was being run by the BJP from Delhi. Addressing a public meeting in Kotkapura, she, without naming the former chief minister, had said, “It is true that for five years we had a government here, it is also true that there were some deficiencies in that government. It lost its way somewhere.”
“That government stopped running from Punjab. That government started running from Delhi. In Delhi even, not by the Congress, but was being run by the BJP and BJP-led government. That hidden nexus has come out. That is why we had to change that government,” Priyanka Gandhi had said.
Amarinder Singh was asked to step down as the Chief Minister of Punjab in September last year by Congress following a power tussle with party MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was also appointed as the state Congress president. Charanjit Singh Channi was elected as Amarinder Singh’s replacement. Amarinder Singh, who was one of the Congress’ powerful regional satraps, had said that he had never experienced “this sort of interference ever as a chief minister” from the Congress.
After quitting Congress, Amarinder Singh formed Punjab Lok Congress which is contesting the state assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) led by former Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Punjab will vote for the 117-member state assembly in a single-phase on February 20. The counting of votes will be held on March 10.
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