Patiala: Congress MP Amarinder Singh today said that his party was open to alliance with like-minded parties for the 2017 Assembly elections in Punjab.
Talking to reporters after attending the National Press Day celebrations here, Amarinder said the ouster of the Akali-BJP government was a foregone conclusion and asserted that Congress was in a very strong position to get a comfortable majority on its own.
However, Congress was still open to alliance with like-minded parties to ensure that the secular and progressive vote against the SAD-BJP alliance did not divide, he said.
The Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha said the Bihar experiment had proved to be very successful and there was no harm in trying a similar arrangement here also.
Meanwhile, Amarinder met the family of late Capt Ashwani Kumar, who died recently in Siachen.
Sharing his grief with the bereaved family at their residence in Urban Estate, he said the whole of Patiala stood by them. Capt Ashwani will always be remembered and Patiala will always be proud of him.
On Aam Aadmi Party's prospects in Punjab, the Congress leader said people of Punjab are wise enough not to experiment with inexperienced people.
He pointed out that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had proved to be total failure and always tries to put all blame for his failures either on the Prime Minister or the Lieutenant Governor.
”Then what is he there for?” Amarinder asked, noting that even Sheila Dixit remained Chief Minister for 15 years and she never complained about anything even when there was BJP government at the Centre.
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Amarinder strongly disproved the state government's slapping sedition charges against radical Sikh leaders and putting them behind the bars.
He said this was not a solution as the government, instead of addressing basic issues, was trying to gag the voice of the people.
In an open confrontation with the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the SGPC, which appoints Sikh head priests, Sikh hardliners had organised ‘Sarbat Khalsa' on November 10 and removed ‘jathedars' (caretakers) of three takhts.
Police have slapped sedition charges against 20 Sikh leaders so far who had organised ‘Sarbat Khalsa' (grand assembly of Sikhs) on the outskirts of Amritsar.
Scores of Sikh leaders have been arrested and put behind the bars.
Amarinder criticised the SAD's plans to hold rallies in the state, saying this was not the right time to do so.
“Is this the time for this government to hold a show of strength?” he asked, adding, instead the government should address public grievances first and show its progress report, if it had any, to the people.Replying to a question on the lack of coordination between the state and the central government, Amarinder said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “acting like an autocrat” who did not like to take anybody into confidence, “not even his own ministers like Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj”.
He recalled that when he was the Chief Minister and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, he would always get issues sorted out.
“Despite us belonging to two different parties, we never had any problem with Vajpayee,” he recalled, adding, “In strong contrast, Modi does not care about anyone including Badal despite the two being alliance partners.”
