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Captain Amarinder Singh: Will contest next polls to bring Punjab out of industrial, agricultural mess

The Punjab Chief Minister was speaking at Express Adda when he made the comments.

I don’t believe in this business of either religion or regionalism: Amarinder SinghThe Express Adda with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh hosted by Indian Express Executive Director Anant Goenka and National Opinion Editor Vandita Mishra. (Source: YouTube/IndianExpressOnline)
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Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday, while speaking at Express Adda, ended speculations regarding his future in politics, saying he is going to contest the next elections to get Punjab out of the woods.

Responding to a question by Anant Goenka, Executive Director of the Indian Express Group, regarding his statement in 2017 that this would be his last term as Punjab Chief Minister, Singh said, “I resigned from Parliament twice to be with my state and it is my duty to help it. This is my 52nd year in politics and I believe it is my responsibility to pull out Punjab from this industrial and agricultural mess. Hence, I intend to fight the next elections and win it.”

When asked about what made him change his mind, the 79-year-old Chief Minister said, “When we came to power, we did not know what we were stepping into. The state’s finances were in a mess courtesy the previous government. When the Centre should be contributing to us in the form of food bills, they added Rs 31,000 crore to it, and the previous government, instead of opposing it, accepted it as a loan. The industrial sector, too, was in a mess but thankfully, I have brought in business worth Rs 71,000 crore.”

He added, “Agriculture, too, has been great this year. But everything needs time and similarly, I, too, will need some time to say that things are fine in Punjab and only then can I hang up my boots.”

During the 2017 Assembly polls, the Congress leader had said that those were his last elections. However, next year, he had said he would not hang up his boots until the state was taken out of the “mess”.


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In 2019, the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Patiala had said that he would not quit politics until Punjab’s number one position was “restored” and he might fight the next assembly polls if needed.

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