Punjab: Congress Legislative Party requests Sonia Gandhi to choose next CM

Chandigarh (Punjab) : The Congress Legislative Party (CLP) unanimously passed a resolution to give party president Sonia Gandhi power to nominate the new Chief Minister of Punjab after Captain Amarinder SinghAmarinder Singh stepped down, said Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat on Saturday.

Addressing media after the CLP meeting in Punjab, Rawat said the party has sent two resolutions to the high command which were passed in the Congress Legislative Party meeting.

“We had a tradition of requesting Congress president to elect the Chief Minister. Punjab unit of the party kept the tradition and unanimously passed the resolution asking Sonia Gandhi Ji to chose the new Chief Minister,” said Rawat.

“We’ve sent two resolutions to party high command which were passed in Congress Legislative Party meeting today. We’re waiting for their (party high command) decision,” he added.

The second resolution passed by the CLP praised Amarinder Singh.

Congress observer for Punjab, Ajay Maken, who was also present during the meeting said, “There was no discussion on the name (of CLP leader) in the meeting.”

Earlier today, Captain Amarinder Singh resigned as Chief Minister of Punjab, citing continued humiliation by the Congress leadership over the past two months.

The Chief Minister made it clear that he would explore and exercise his future options when the time comes.

Captain Amarinder Singh said he would decide his future political course of action in consultation with his supporters who have stood by him for over five decades.

“There is always an option, and I will use that option when the time comes…at the moment I am still in Congress,” he said after submitting his resignation.

“I was humiliated three times by the Congress leadership in the past two months…they called the MLAs to Delhi twice and now convened CLP here in Chandigarh today,” said Captain Amarinder, adding that he had decided and informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the morning that he would resign.

“Apparently they (Congress high command) do not have confidence in me and did not think I could handle my job. But I felt humiliated at the manner in which they handled the whole affair,” he told media persons at the gate of the Raj Bhavan after giving his resignation letter to the Governor. “Let them appoint who they trust,” he remarked, taking a dig at the party leadership.

Captain Amarinder tendered his resignation, and that of the council of ministers, to Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Punjab Raj Bhavan shortly after 4.30 p.m., pre-empting what was widely being seen as a move to remove him from chief ministership through an emergency Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting convened by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at 5 pm.

“I hereby tender my resignation as Chief Minister, and that of my Council of Ministers,” the one-line resignation letter said.

An official release said his wife Preneet Kaur, MP, accompanied him to the Governor house. His son Raninder Singh was also present, along with MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Ravneet Singh Bittu, AG Atul Nanda and Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar.