Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday slammed his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal over the recent controversy over his apology to senior Akali Dal leader and former Minister Bikram Majithia.
Singh dismissed Kejriwal’s apology to Majithia as an antic that not only reflected the AAP national convenor’s political inexperience but also appeared to be a desperate attempt to reduce the burden of defamation cases against him before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“I don’t know why he (Kejriwal) does that but this is no way for a Chief Minister to behave, irrespective of his lack of experience,” said Captain Amarinder at an event in Delhi.
No government can function in isolation but Kejriwal had completely isolated himself, said the Chief Minister, adding that AAP had completely lost ground in all states.
Kejriwal seemed to have apologised to Majithia over drug charges possibly to prepare for next year’s polls but the fact was that things had changed for the worse for him, Captain Amarinder added.
On AAP future in Punjab, the Chief Minister said the party’s MLAs were totally disappointed and were reportedly looking for alternatives in order to safeguard their own future. The decline in AAP, added Captain Amarinder, had taken place over a period of time and the party’s MLAs were completely disillusioned with their leadership.
Citing the change in public mood, he expressed the optimism that the Congress would form the next government at the Centre, either on its own or in a coalition with like-minded parties.
Asked about the mood in the Congress following the Tripura results and the subsequent bypoll results in UP and Bihar, the Chief Minister said all political parties had their ups and downs. The Congress might be down at the moment but that did not mean it would always remain down, he said, expressing the confidence that there would be change in 2019.
On Rahul Gandhi as the prospective Prime Minister, Captain Amarinder said he saw this to be an absolute possibility and that Rahul would make a good PM.
To a question on the drugs menace in Punjab, he described the STF’s crackdown as a success, pointing to the number of arrests and seizures. Some big fish had run away but will eventually be caught, he asserted, adding that there was massive pressure on the drugs traders and smugglers. The situation on the ground had definitely improved, as endorsed by the high prices of drugs in the state, which was the result of shortage of the same, he added.
When asked about the possibility of his standing for a second term, the Chief Minister said if his government failed in putting Punjab, which they had found to be in a bigger crisis than they had envisaged, back on its feet in this term then he would be there to contest again.