After guiding Congress to a thumping victory in the state assembly polls, senior party leader Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on March 16.
Talking to media outside Punjab Raj Bhawan here on Sunday, he said that he will go to Delhi on March 14 to meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and discuss formation of the new government. The oath taking ceremony will take place on March 16, he said.
However, the scion of erstwhile Patiala Royal family refused to comment on the number of ministers who will be part of the new cabinet. He said the Congress government will be accountable to the people of the state.
Amarinder earlier held an official meeting with governor V P Singh Badnore for staking claims to form the new government in the state. He was also unanimously elected as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader by the newly-elected party MLAs in a meeting held at party office here on Sunday.
Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar East), Pargat Singh (Jalandhar Cantt), Raj Kumar Verka (Amritsar East) were some of the newly-elected MLAs present at the meeting.
Congress ended the SAD-BJP combine's ten year regime by registering a thumping win by bagging 77 seats, one short of two-third majority. Rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to get 20 seats, while SAD-BJP won 18 seats in the state polls. Two seats went into the kitty of AAP's ally lok Insaf Party (LIP).
The winning margin of Amarinder from Patiala seat was the highest in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. He won convincingly with a margin of 52,407 votes after defeating his nearest rival AAP candidate Balbir Singh.
Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday submitted his resignation to governor VP Singh Badnore following his party's defeat in the assembly polls. The Punjab cabinet, which met under Badal for the last time, recommended dissolution of the assembly, paving the way for the constitution of the new legislature.
The 89-year-old Akali leader along with deputy chief minister and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal went to the Raj Bhawan and handed over the resignation letter to the governor, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said. Badal, a five-time chief minister, retained his Lambi assembly seat defeating Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh. However Amarinder retained his traditional bastion Patiala seat.
Earlier in Patiala, Amarinder Singh asserted that his government will form a 'Special Task Force' to curb the drug menace in Punjab, while making the state more investor-friendly. He said prime minister Narendra Modi had assured him full cooperation for the development of the state.
On the vexed issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Amarinder said it was important to see the quantum of water available with Punjab. "When Punjab does not have enough water, the question of giving it to other states does not arise," he said.
He said Punjab has 60 per cent of agrarian land with just eight MAF (million acre-feet) water, while Haryana with 40 per cent of agriculture land has 12 MAF water.
The Congress' chief ministerial candidate said he was committed to fulfil all the promises made by the party in its election manifesto. "The Congress-led state government will create an investor-friendly environment in the state. We will make the state's industrial policy more liberal," he asserted, adding many top industrialists were in touch with him to set up their units in Punjab.
Commenting on newcomer AAP's showing in the state polls, the senior Congress leader said, "AAP's bubble has burst". "There was no wave of AAP in Punjab. The party's hype was only on social media," he said.
