After being ousted from the chief minister's chair, Amarinder Singh is in a combative mood, taking on his rivals in the party, including state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. In an interview with THE WEEK, Singh said he had offered to resign earlier, but was persuaded to stay on by Sonia Gandhi. He said Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were inexperienced and were misguided by their advisers. Throwing an open challenge to the Congress, he said he would do his best to keep Sidhu out of power. Excerpts:
Q. You spoke about feeling humiliated. Whom do you blame for this?
A. I don’t really know who is responsible and who took the decision to move in this manner. What does seem to be clear now is that Rahul and Priyanka, who are themselves quite inexperienced, were fed all kind of nonsense by their advisers like (AICC general secretary) K.C. Venugopal. It is unfortunate that after [me putting in] so many years of loyal service to the Congress, the party leadership chose to trust them over me. Especially after I delivered every election to them in the past four and a half years.
Q. You spoke to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. What did she have to say?
A. I told her that I felt I was left with no option but to step down, given the way I had been treated and humiliated. She said she was sorry. We did not have any detailed discussion on the political developments. That was done earlier, when I had met her in Delhi. I had told her then that Navjot Sidhu and I don’t see eye to eye, and since he’s now the PPCC president, I would like to be relieved. But she refused and asked me to continue.
Q. Critics say there is severe anti-incumbency against your government.
Esta historia es de la edición October 03, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 03, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
