CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab state president and MP Bhagwant Mann said on Friday that the people of Punjab, including the farmers, were suffering due to internecine war among the ruling Congress leadership, adding that the lack of seriousness on the part of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was the possible reason that led to the sorry state of affairs in Punjab.
In a statement issued from party headquarters here on Friday, Bhagwant Mann said, "Yesterday, various factions of the ruling Congress MPs held separate meetings with Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and made conflicting statements about the meet while some staged a walkout of the meeting”. Mann said: “Capt Amarinder Singh, who is sitting cozy at his luxurious farmhouse, has lost control over the party and his ministers and MPs. He held the CM responsible for reneging on the poll promises he had pedalled among the people of Punjab before assuming power, saying he had failed on all fronts, leaving the people to fend for themselves.
Bhagwant Mann said that the meeting/ communication by Capt. Amarinder Singh on the resumption of freight trains to Punjab had completely failed due to the infightings within the Congress leadership. Accusing him of hoodwinking the people, especially the farmers, by resorting to cheap gimmicks, Mann said a few Congress MPs claimed the meeting with the Railway Minister was fruitful, while some others chose to stage a walk out, which confirmed the meeting by Congress MPs had failed to bring tangible outcome on the issue.
The AAP MP further said that the lack of gross seriousness on the part of Capt. Amarinder Singh, who himself was protesting in Delhi during the period, didn’t think it imperative to meet the Railway Minister personally or otherwise in the larger interest of Punjab and its farmers, to churn out a solution to the long-standing stalemate, demanding he (Captain) should step down as the CM.