Surjewala on Punjab Congress crisis: Out of 79, 78 MLAs demanded Chief Minister should be changed

Amid the ongoing tussle in Congress, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala on Saturday opposed former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's views on his resignation and said that if the party wouldn't have changed the Chief Minister, it would have been termed as 'dictatorship' as the majority of Congress MLAs demanded the change of guard in the state.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Surjewala said, "When a Chief Minister loses MLAs' trust, he should step down from the post. Out of 79, 78 MLAs had written that Chief Minister should be changed. If we wouldn't have changed the Chief Minister, it would have been termed as a dictatorship."

Following this remark, Amarinder Singh today slammed the Congress over the "preposterous" lies being floated by various party leaders in a clear bid to "cover up their mishandling" of the crisis in the state.

Pointing to the conflicting numbers shared by Harish Rawat and Randeep Surjewala on the purported letter received by the party's central leadership expressing lack of confidence against him, Captain Amarinder termed it a "comedy of errors".

A day earlier, Harish Rawat had, in a press statement, said that 43 MLAs had written to the high command on the issue.

Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that he will be resigning from Congress but will not join the BJP.

The former chief minister had said after submitting his resignation that he had been let down by the party leadership.

(ANI)