CHANDIGARH: BJP leader Amarinder Singh on Monday said it is "a matter of shame" that the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government decided to bring a confidence motion in the Vidhan Sabha just six months after the state elections.
Addressing his maiden press conference after joining the BJP last week, Singh said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation doesn't know anything about running the government or the issues of a sensitive state like Punjab.
Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma and party leaders Sunil Jakhar and Manoranjan Kalia were also present at the press conference.
"If just six months after elections a chief minister who has a majority with 92 MLAs decides to bring a confidence motion, isn't it a matter of shame? this is a joke," Singh said.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on September 21 withdrew permission to hold a special Assembly session on September 22 when the AAP government wanted to bring a "confidence motion only".
On Sunday, Purohit approved the state government's request to convene the House on September 27 after it informed him that issues like stubble burning, Goods and Services Tax and power supply will be taken up during the one-day session.
Singh alleged that the state government is being controlled by AAP MP Raghav Chadha.
"It is unfortunate that Raghav Chadha today sits here and runs the show. What does the chief minister do," he asked.
Asked about the political crisis in Rajasthan over leadership change, Singh said it is the Congress' issue and the matter is between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party president Sonia Gandhi.
Singh, who quit the Congress after he was unceremoniously removed as Punjab chief minister last year, said many people in the party have a "narrow mindset".
The former chief minister, who joined politics in 1969, floated his own political outfit Punjab Lok Congress after quitting the Congress. He merged his outfit with the BJP after he joined the party.