Punjab Assembly polls to be fought under leadership of Amarinder Singh — Rawat

Chandigarh, Aug. 25 (PTI): AICC general secretary Harish Rawat on Wednesday said the next year’s Punjab Assembly polls will be fought under the leadership of CM Amarinder Singh as four state ministers wanting the “ouster” of the chief minister met the Congress leader in Dehradun.

Punjab ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi besides several Congress MLAs had on Tuesday sought the CM’s removal, saying he failed to fulfil some key poll promises.

The announcement by Rawat, who is the in-charge of Punjab affairs at the AICC, is being seen as a setback to the dissident leaders.

There is no threat to the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab and the party’s victory prospects for the upcoming Assembly elections, Rawat told reporters in Dehradun.

Before meeting the Punjab ministers and three party MLAs at a hotel in Dehradun, Rawat said, “We will fight the (Punjab) elections in 2022 under the leadership of Amarinder Singh.”

After meeting the Congress leaders, Rawat said they told him that they were not against any individual but were concerned about winning prospects of the party in the Assembly polls.