NEW DELHI: The change of guard in Punjab was not an overnight decision and it was in the offing for some time now but the final straw came after 40 party MLAs wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seeking a change of guard.
With a majority of MLAs not by his side, chief minister Amarinder Singh tendered his resignation, saying he felt “humiliated” over the events in the past two months. “The change was needed. He didn’t have the numbers on his side to pressure the high command to rule in his favour. That was used by Sidhu and MLAs from his camp to show him the door,” said a Congress leader.
It was seemingly a tough decision for Congress president Sonia Gandhi keeping in mind her close association with Amarinder since Rajiv Gandhi’s time. The CM spoke to her in the morning after a Congress Legislature Party meeting was called by the party high command, bypassing CM’s authority, and apprised her about his decision to quit.
Sources said former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra wanted to replace him for some time now but Sonia was holding on to take a final call on it. Coming from a royal family and known for his regal style of living, Amarinder himself had said that he had not met Rahul in the last two years and that he would to talk directly to Sonia. Many a times he had toed a line that was different from the party’s official stand on national issues.
Sources said it was Priyanka who had pushed for Sidhu’s elevation as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief in July this year despite strong objections from Amarinder. Since then, Sidhu and Amarinder were engaged in a battle of supremacy, which ended in the latter’s exit as the CM in two months.