FORMER Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday (2) resigned from the Indian National Congress, second time in his long political career, and announced a new party named Punjab Lok Congress ahead of the 2022 state elections.
In a tweet, Singh, 79, said, “I have today sent my resignation to @INCIndia President Ms Sonia Gandhi ji, listing my reasons for the resignation. ‘Punjab Lok Congress’ is the name of the new party. The registration is pending approval with the @ECISVEEP. The party symbol will be approved later.”
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Captain Singh quit the chief minister’s post in September following a rift in the party, particularly with its state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, and alleged that he was humiliated. Speculation was rife that the veteran leader would join the Bharatiya Janata Party after he met Indian home minister Amit Shah, the second in command in the saffron party.
Punjab crisis: CM Amarinder Singh quits ahead of polls
Captain Singh was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi who became the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab.
The former chief minister has kept the option of making an alliance with the BJP open and said he could come to a seat-sharing deal with the saffron party if the ongoing farmers’ issue is resolved.
The BJP also praised Singh as a patriot and said it was open to joining hands with those who put the nation’s interest first.
Captain Singh left the Congress in 1984 to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) but left it later to form his own SAD (Panthic). He merged it with the Congress in the late 1990s. He served as the chief minister of Punjab between 2002 and 2007 and between 2017 and 2021.
This photograph taken on April 28, 2026 shows a boy getting "thali", a sacred thread tied to his neck symbolising marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom.Getty Images
This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows a member of the transgender community mourning as a priest cuts the "thali", a sacred thread symbolising end of her marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom. Getty Images