Capt Amarinder Singh, who resigned as Punjab Chief Minister on Saturday, made it clear that he will oppose any move to make state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu chief ministerial face of Congress government in the state and said he will be a "disaster for Punjab".
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Captain Amarinder Singh said Sidhu is not a magic word for Punjab.
"He is going to a disaster. It is up to the Congress Party that they made him the party state president. But if they made Sidhu the face of the Chief Minister I will oppose him. Because it is a matter of national security," he said.
Capt Amarinder Singh resignation came months before the assembly polls in the state amid unending factionalism in the state Congress.
The party's central leadership had appointed Sidhu as PCC chief in July after an internal crises that saw MLAs being called to Delhi and to meet an AICC committee.
Amarinder Singh was apparently opposed to appointing Sidhu, his bete noire, as PCC chief.
Hitting out at Sidhu, Amarinder Singh said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and its Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa were his friends.
"And, I know what kind of relationship he maintains with Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan and General Bajwa are his friends," he said.
Sidhu had hugged Bajwa during his visit to the country for oath-taking ceremony of Imran Khan and had faced criticism. Capt Amarinder Singh had then termed it as "not a nice gesture" and "completely avoidable".
"Everyday drones, ammunition, RDX, AK-47, weapons and explosives are being trespassed here. Heroin is coming. These all things are coming from Pakistan. When you know the bigwigs on the top and we have a common border of around 600 km. It is a matter of national security. I will oppose him. I will not allow him to come in. I will oppose Sidhu if Congress makes him the face of Chief Minister for the sake of my country," Amarinder Singh said in the interview .
Singh said Sidhu is "incompetent".
"Everyday our jawans are being killed in Kashmir. Do you think I am going to accept Sidhu? I know him. Something is unstable in that man I do not what it is. He is an incompetent man. He was a minister in my cabinet and I had to take him out from the ministership. That was a very important department in my government. The man who cannot run a ministry how can he run the entire state? His only target is to become the chief minister," he said.
Amarinder Singh said he had called party chief Sonia Gandhi in the morning to convey his decision to resign.
Asked what did she say, Amarinder Singh said: "She said sorry Amarinder".
( With inputs from ANI )
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