A day after Captain Amarinder Singh said he will be quitting Congress, party leader Harish Rawat said that the former Punjab Chief Minister appeared to be under "some sort of pressure" and should not help and support "BJP directly or indirectly".
Addressing a press conference, Rawat, who is AICC incharge of Punjab, said there are no facts in reports that Captain Amarinder Singh was insulted by Congress.
He said the former Chief Minister should rethink the course of action he is pursuing.
"No facts in reports that state Captain Amarinder Singh was insulted by Congress. It appears from Captain's recent statements that he is under some sort of pressure. I think he should rethink and not help BJP directly or indirectly," Rawat said.
He said Congress had protected and respected the dignity of Amarinder Singh.
"All that has been done by the Congress party till now is to protect the respect and dignity of Captain Amarinder Singh and increase the party's chances (in 2022 assembly polls) in Punjab," Rawat said.
He said Amarinder Singh was informed about the Congress Legislative Party meeting on September 18 but he said he will not be attending it.
"I informed Captain about the CLP meeting through my sources but Captain said he will not attend it as many questions will be raised and he will not be able to able handle the embarrassment. After these remarks, he submitted his resignation to the party high command," Rawat said.
He said all Congress MLAs lauded his services as Chief Minister for nine-and-a-half years after he submitted his resignation.
"All the party leaders present in the CLP meeting praised and thanked Captain for his services as chief minister. So, it is wrong to say that he was being insulted," Rawat said.
He said the former chief minister should once again think about his political journey in Punjab.
"Captain had been three times chief minister of the state, everybody respected him a lot. He had been given many opportunities as compared to other leaders of the party. Once again, he should think about his political journey in Punjab," he said.
Rawat also said Amarinder Singh should have stood with the party president Sonia Gandhi and supported her during the present political problems in the state.
"Being a senior leader, it was his responsibility that he should have stood with Sonia Gandhi and supported the party during the present political situation in Punjab."
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.
( With inputs from ANI )
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