Hurt by your conduct, Captain Amarinder tells Sonia, quits

CHANDIGARH:  Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday formally snapped ties with the Congress and announced his new outfit, the Punjab Lok Congress.

He wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying he was deeply hurt by her conduct as also that of her children Rahul and Priyanka for propping up Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of the state unit of the Congress. “I actually felt deeply hurt by your conduct and that of your children... I hereby tender my resignation from the  Indian National Congress in the interest of my state and my country,’’ his letter read.

Playing the nationalism card, he said, “You chose to appoint an acolyte of the Pakistani deep state Navjot Sidhu who had publicly hugged Pakistan Army Chief Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Imran Khan... Khan and Bajwa are the people responsible for sending terrorists across the border to kill Indians.”

Amarinder later told the media that the new party will be registered after approval from the Election Commission of India. The party will be formally launched later. Its policies, programmes, agenda and vision will be spelt out at the time of the launch, he added.