Day after the election results, a hectic Sunday! In just about 24 hours after the Congress brushed aside the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the SAD-BJP combine to sweep Punjab, the State witnessed political hustle-bustle despite it being a holiday.
Punjab Governor VP Singh Bandore remained busy as a beaver. Not only did Captain Amarinder Singh meet him to stake claim for Government formation, outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also submitted his resignation to him following which the current House was dissolved.
Amarinder Singh met the Governor at Raj Bhawan on Sunday evening and staked claim to form the next Government in the State as the party secured 77 seats in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha — just one short of the two-third majority.
After the meeting, Singh announced that March 16 has been fixed as the date on which he will take oath as the new Chief Minister.
He had earlier headed the Government from 2002 to 2007, before the SAD-BJP combine came to power to rule for a decade.
Capt Amarinder maintained that he will be meeting the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on March 14 to discuss the formation of the new Government. It has been learnt that Capt Amarinder will also discuss the probable list of his Cabinet for high command’s final approval.
Along with the Patiala Royal, some of the Cabinet Minister will also swear-in on March 16. However, he refused to reveal about the size of his Cabinet and the number of Ministers he would appoint.
Earlier, Capt Amarinder was unanimously elected as the Congress legislature Party (ClP) leader by the newly-elected party Members of legislative Assembly (MlAs) in a meeting held at party office on Sunday afternoon.
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was elected from Amritsar East, Olympian Pargat Singh elected from Jalandhar Cantt, Capt loyalist Raj Kumar Verka elected from Amritsar East, were some of the newly-elected MlAs present at the meeting.
Besides, AICC secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari, Congress Screening Committee for Punjab elections head Ashok Gehlot and AICC secretary Harish Chaudhary were also present at the meeting.
Before that, Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore dissolved the fourteenth Punjab legislative Assembly after outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal submitted his resignation to him.
The 89-year-old Akali leader along with his Deputy Chief Minister son and SAD president Sukhbir Badal went to the Raj Bhawan and handed over the resignation letter to the Governor.
Badal earlier chaired the Punjab Cabinet meeting, which met for the last time, and recommended dissolution of the Assembly, paving the way for the constitution of the new legislature. The meeting was attended by Sukhbir Badal, NK Sharma and Madan Mohan Mittal.
After ruling the State for a decade, the SAD-BJP alliance could manage only 18 seats, comprising 15 of Akali Dal and three by the saffron party in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha.
Debutant AAP managed to get 20 seats, while two seats went into the kitty of its ally lok Insaf Party (lIP).
Following the defeat, a section of AAP’s local leadership, mostly comprising of the elected MlAs, raised the voice seeking greater role to the regional leaders and limiting the “Delhi leader’s say” - something clearly turned down by the high command.