Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh is expected to arrive in Delhi on Tuesday setting off speculation on the nature of his engagements in the capital. This will be his first visit since he resigned as the CM. Sources close to the former Punjab chief minister said the programme to visit Delhi was made last week and the schedules were now being formalised.
Asked if he would meet the BJP top brass, which is said to be in touch with Capt, sources did not confirm any official meeting and sufficed to say, “There are likely to be a host of engagements.” It remains to be seen if Capt will openly engage with the BJP leaders amid rift speculation that he may meet Home Minister Amit Shah on a day when Punjab ministerial portfolios were announced and Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa given the home department. Capt is also likely to meet some senior Congress leaders in Delhi, including some members of the G23 group. The visit is being keenly watched in Punjab political circles and also nationally. Amarinder Singh resigned as chief minister of Punjab on September 18, declaring that he feels “humiliated” and said he won’t accept state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu as the next CM or the party face in the Assembly polls. Sidhu was made the state Congress chief earlier this year despite opposition by Amarinder Singh.
Later, Punjab’s first Dalit chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, took charge, promising free water supply to smaller homes, a reduction in power tariff and a transparent government for the “common man” in the poll-bound state.
