Captain Amarinder Singh is an politician who served as the Chief Minister of Punjab as a leader of the Congress party for two separate terms, once from 2002 to 2007, and again from 2017 to 2021. Born on March 11, 1972, Amarinder Singh also served as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee thrice. His father was the last Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala. He has also served in the Indian Army from 1963 to 1966. He was inducted into the Indian National Congress by Rajiv Gandhi, who was his friend from school. Singh was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. Amarinder joined the Shiromani Akali Dal after he resigned from Congress as a protest to Operation Blue Star in the year 1984. He rejoined the Congress in 1998. Amarinder Singh was sworn in as the 26th Chief Minister of Punjab on 16 March 2017. But recently, he broke away from the Congress again after long infighting within the Punjab Congress. PPCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu is a big reason why Amarinder broke away from the party and resigned as the CM of Punjab. For the upcoming Punjab assembly elections in 2022, Amarinder Singh floated a new party Punjab Lok Congress, for which he is eyeing 24 MLAs from the ruling Congress party who are likely to be denied party nomination in the upcoming polls. However, he lost elections to AAP candidate.
Read MoreAmid the Punjab Congress fiasco, Kapil Sibal launched an attack on Rahul Gandhi and wondered who in the party is taking decisions. He said that the party leaders' demand of organisational elections has not been met even a year after the letter was written by G-23.
The meeting assumes significance as Singh had not opened his cards but had claimed that he had not quit politics and would fight till the end.
Razia Sultana took oath as Punjab cabinet minister just two days ago and was allocated portfolio earlier today. However, after a dramatic turn of events in the party's state unit, she quitted as a minister in solidarity with Sidhu.
Addressing a presser, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said, "I have my confidence in Sidhu, if needed I shall call him... but there is no difference. How can he be angry with me."
Navjot Singh Sidhu's sudden resignation from the post on Tuesday of state party unit chief has given a new headache to the Congress months ahead of Assembly election in the state.
Navjot Singh Sidhu in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi resigned as party's Punjab unit chief but said he will continue to serve the party.
The Congress had appointed Sidhu as Punjab state unit chief in July following a bitter duel with Captain Amarinder Singh which eventually saw the later stepping down from his post.
The former Punjab CM is likely to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital, sources said.
Captain Amarinder Singh had recently resigned as the Chief Minister of the state due to factionalism and internal strife in the Punjab Congress.
Captain Amarinder Singh though is not opening his cards for what he will do in the future, but he is making it clear that he is not going to hang his boots soon, and will fight the battle like a soldier.
Will Amarinder Singh continue to remain in Congress, form his own party, or join the BJP, he discusses it in an exclusive conversation with India TV.
Slamming party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Amarinder Singh said he is dangerous for the country and the party will not win even 10 seats under his leadership in the upcoming assembly elections. In an exclusive interview with India TV, Singh also hit out at party top leadership's advisors.
Ramdas Athawale has suggested that Amarinder Singh should quit the Congress and join the BJP-led NDA.
Channi, a Dalit leader, was Technical Education Minister in the outgoing Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's cabinet and will be the first Dalit to hold the chief minister's post in Punjab.
Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Punjab. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni also took oath as Deputy CMs.
On reports that party's Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu didn't want any other leader to be considered for the post of chief minister except him, Harish Rawat said it wouldn't be a fare observation since such reports were unsubstantiated.
Channi, who was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader on Sunday and will take oath as chief minister on Monday, succeeds Amarinder Singh who resigned on Saturday alleging humiliation by the party.
BJP leader Amit Malviya, who is its IT department head, tweeted, "Congress's CM pick Charanjit Channi faces action in a 3-year-old MeToo case. He had allegedly sent an inappropriate text to a woman IAS officer in 2018. It was covered up but the case resurfaced when Punjab Women's Commission sent notice. Well done, Rahul."
Senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh on Saturday resigned from his post as the Chief Minister of Punjab after months of political tussle, saying he stepped down as he felt 'humiliated'.
It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Charanjit Singh Channi has been unanimously elected as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab, AICC general secretary Harish Rawat said on Sunday.
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