Differences between Congress MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state party chief Partap Singh Bajwa widened today with Singh openly declaring that Bajwa is "neither his friend nor his supporter."
On being asked about not inviting Bajwa to the lunch hosted by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar here, Amarinder said Bajwa is "neither my friend nor my supporter."
The lunch was hosted by Jakhar ahead of oath taking ceremony of Amarinder's wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur, who recently got elected from Patiala urban assembly seat in the by-polls.
On being asked about the absence of Charanjit Kaur, who is also a sitting MLA and Bajwa's wife, from the lunch, Jakhar said that she had told him that she would not be able to make it.
Amarinder spoke to media after the oath taking ceremony of his wife here this afternoon. Preneet was administered oath by speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal.
Meanwhile, Bajwa feigned ignorance on what Amarinder spoke about him.
"I am not aware what he (Amarinder) said about me," he said.
The differences between Amarinder and Bajwa came to the fore last year when Bajwa replaced him as the state congress chief. Then, Amarinder had said that he would have suggested a better name (other than Bajwa) to the party high command for the key post.
He had also sought Bajwa's removal from the post following party's dismal show at the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Amarinder, who after his return from UK had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, said that he had expressed his views about Bajwa before the party high command.
"I still stand by my demand that Bajwa should be removed as PPCC chief," he said.
When his attention was drawn towards recent appointments made by Bajwa at the district and block level, Amarinder said that it was against the constitution of the party.
Amarinder also lashed out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for allegedly failing to govern the state despite a long political experience.
"About 60 per cent of state's economy is going in paying interests of loans by the state government," he said adding that Badal had "failed" to keep state on proper position on fiscal front.
