Chandigarh: Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday said it was not party chief Sonia Gandhi who removed Amarinder Singh as Punjab chief minister but the party’s 78 MLAs who sought his removal.
Surjewala’s remarks came after Singh accused the Congress leadership of “humiliating” him after he tendered his resignation as Punjab chief minister.
Amarinder Singh was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi, who was elected legislative party leader last month.
Surjewala said when any chief minister loses the confidence of his legislators, he should not stick to his post.
“Seventy-eight out of 79 legislators (in Punjab) had written for a change of the chief minister. Had we not changed the CM, you would have accused us of being a dictator. Seventy-eight MLAs are on one side and a CM is on the other side and you are not listening to them,” said Surjewala at a press conference.
“Sonia Gandhi is the president of the Congress party and the decision on changing the CM in Punjab was not taken by her. As I told you, 78 MLAs had written and then we changed the CM,” the Congress general secretary said.
Amarinder Singh earlier rejected the charge that he had lost the confidence of the MLAs.
The former Punjab chief minister said he would quit the Congress which he claimed was ignoring senior leaders.
Surjewala said for the first time in Punjab’s history a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste community became chief minister.
He asked the BJP whether it had any chief minister belonging to the SC in its ranks.
“If the Congress has made a move, what is its problem?” he asked the BJP.