‘Arrogance of those in power hurt’: Congress on Amarinder Singh-Amit Shah meeting

PTI, Sep 30, 2021, 11:09 AM IST

Soon after former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh met Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress hit out at the BJP leader, alleging his residence has become the “new centre of anti-Dalit politics”.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that the arrogance of those sitting in power has been hurt ever since a Dalit has been made the chief minister of Punjab.

“The arrogance of the those sitting in power has been hurt. Because if a Dalit is made the chief minister, they ask who is taking the decisions in the Congress,” he asked.

His remark came after Kapil Sibal, a leader of the G-23 dissident group, said there is no elected president in the party and wondered who was making the decisions.

“The centre of anti-Dalit politics is nowhere else but Amit Shah’s residence,” Surjewala alleged, though he did not mention the Shah-Amarinder Singh meeting.

“Amit Shah ji and Modi ji are burning in the fire of vengeance from Punjab. They want to take revenge on Punjab as they have so far failed to serve the interests of their capitalist friends with the black anti-farmer laws. BJP’s anti-farmer conspiracy will not succeed,” he said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag “NoFarmersNoFood”.

The Congress had hand-picked Charanjit Singh Channi, a member of the scheduled caste community, as the chief minister of Punjab after Amarinder Singh resigned from the post alleging that he has been humiliated following an open revolt by the faction led by Navjot Singh Sidhu.

After meeting Shah, Amarinder Singh said he discussed the prolonged farmers stir with him.

However, the politically significant meeting raised speculation over Singh’s future plans ahead of the polls in Punjab with some political analysts viewing it as an indication that he may be seeking the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).