Chandigarh: Amid growing speculation over former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s possible return to Congress, Punjab party in charge Sachin Pilot on Thursday sought to dismiss the reports, saying he had neither discussed the matter with anyone nor received any communication from the party on it.Social media has been abuzz with speculation about Amarinder Singh’s political future. Asked about reports that Amarinder Singh could return to Congress, Pilot said, “I have not discussed this matter with anyone, and the party has not had any dialogue with me on this issue.”Amarinder Singh’s relationship with Congress ended in 2021 after he resigned as Punjab chief minister amid a prolonged tussle with the party’s state leadership. Congress subsequently appointed Charanjit Singh Channi as chief minister ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.Amarinder later left Congress and formed Punjab Lok Congress before joining BJP. Congress suffered a major defeat in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, with Aam Aadmi Party winning 92 of the state’s 117 seats, while Congress secured 18 seats. Channi, who contested from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, lost both constituencies.With the state unit grappling with intense factionalism, the party has shown reluctance to announce a chief ministerial face for the upcoming Assembly elections. Pilot reiterated that Congress traditionally contests elections under the leadership of the incumbent chief minister when it is in power. He said the upcoming election in Punjab would be contested under collective leadership.The stand taken by the party has been questioned by the Opposition, with BJP criticising Congress for lacking capable leaders and therefore entering Punjab Assembly election without a chief ministerial face. Pilot hit back at BJP, asking why it was now seeking the support of leaders whom it had previously criticised.On Shiromani Akali Dal, Pilot said the party was no longer what it was during the time of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. He said the Akali Dal had gone through several splits and had fragmented into different formations. Pilot said, based on the discussions he had seen, BJP and SAD were trying to join hands to regain political ground in Punjab. However, he pointed out that the BJP-SAD alliance had also suffered a defeat when the two parties were together.He said the main contest in Punjab would be between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Pilot said Congress had performed better in Punjab and won the majority of the state’s parliamentary seats.He also hit back at AAP over its criticism of factionalism within Congress, saying that several AAP Rajya Sabha members had defected to BJP. He alleged that BJP was seeking to break opposition parties to create a majority in Parliament for the passage of the delimitation legislation. Pilot said the people of Punjab were politically aware and asserted that Congress organisation and leadership were strong enough to win the election.
