Chandigarh, March 26 (IANS) Amarinder Singh has set the political temperature soaring after the Congress announced he would take on BJP heavyweight Arun Jaitley in Amritsar and the confident former Punjab chief minister who belongs to an erstwhile royal family says "we will fight them and beat them".
Amarinder, a former army officer, after his initial reluctance to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time, has come out all guns blazing against Jaitley and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Known for his political attitude of taking his opponents head-on, Amarinder has already started firing salvos at Jaitley and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
"Jaitley is an outsider in Amritsar. He is trying to create his Punjabi roots with Amritsar when there are none. He has no idea about the area," Amarinder pointed out, adding that people from Amritsar were reaching out to him after his name was announced for the seat.
"We will fight them (BJP and Akali Dal) and we will beat them. I have drawn out my sword and it won't go back till the battle is over," Amarinder told IANS in an interview here.
With the Congress announcing his candidature for Amritsar, Amarinder knows that the Akali Dal and the BJP will have to give all they have to beat him.
At a rally, Badal tried to woo the electorate saying that Jaitley would be the next deputy prime minister of the country.
"Badal is a known liar. He does not know what the inner thinking in the BJP is. Let him bring a BJP resolution stating that Jaitley will be the deputy PM. Badal says such things to whip up support," said Amarinder who was himself an Akali Dal leader for almost 10 years and is a bitter critic of Badal.
Having initially shown his reluctance to contest from Amritsar saying that he "won't be able to do justice to the constituency as a MP", Amarinder says that he is all geared up for the big fight.
"I never said that I will not contest. When Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi asked me if I would contest from Amritsar, I told her that my experience could be better utilised (for campaigning) across Punjab. But once the decision (on fielding him) was taken, I am all set for the fight," he said.
"I have been given full assurance by the Congress president and (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi that the entire Congress leadership and resources will be behind me for this contest," said Amarinder, 72, who comes from the erstwhile royal family of Patiala.
Amarinder's wife, union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, is seeking re-election to the Patiala Lok Sabha seat on the Congress ticket.
This is the first time that the couple is contesting at the same time.
All 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab go to the polls April 30.
The ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab, which edged out sitting BJP MP from Amritsar, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, from the seat and brought in Jaitley to contest for the `safe' seat could find the Amritsar election a tough political test.
Animal Twitter Review: Did Ranbir Kapoor look strong in Animal or proved to be a fuss? Read reviews before booking tickets
There has been a lot of hype about Animal for the last several days. The film has been released in theaters on Friday amidst tremendous discussion. Along with this, the review of Animal has also come
Light rain likely in Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) It will be a cloudy Tuesday here with the possibility of spells of light rain in some areas, the Met Office said. Officials said over 15 trains were delayed because of
Mufti Sayeed allots portfolios to council of ministers
Jammu, March 3 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Tuesday assigned portfolios to his council of ministers, ending the suspense over sharing of portfolios between the
Even after the agreement, the Lakhimpur Kheri case did not stop, the round of allegations and counter-allegations continued, know who said what
Despite the agreement reached between the protesters and the administration, the Lakhimpur Kheri case is currently heating up. There is constant political rhetoric about this. It is worth noting that
U-turn of corona virus is frightening, more than 100 died in America, only one case confirmed in Wuhan
Corona virus is not taking the name of death in the world. About two lakh people have been infected worldwide by this deadly virus and about 7,900 people have died. In a developed country like
Shraddha Murder Case: Aftab's polygraph test lasted for 8 hours, health deteriorated again during the interrogation
The help of psychologists is also being taken in the investigation of the Shraddha Walker murder case of a Mumbai girl. Under this, Aftab Poonawalla, who murdered live-in partner Shraddha Walker and
Pak supporters are not allowing Hindus to live even in Bangladesh, they kept Quran in the Durga pandal and committed atrocities
The government has blamed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and pro-Pakistan elements for the violence against the minority Hindu community during the recent Durga Puja in Bangladesh. Information and
IPL 2021: Will Afghan cricketers Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi play in UAE? Sunrisers made a big statement
Following the ongoing political turmoil in Afghanistan, it was expected that the country's top cricketers Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi would not play for the rest of the upcoming IPL season. The
How Nizamuddin Markaz Became Covid-19 Hotspot; More Than 8,000 Attendees Identified
दिल्ली के निजामुद्दीन मरकज में तब्लीगी जमात की मंडली में शामिल होने वाले 13
When Donald Trump became the President, Elon Musk's wealth increased so much that you will not believe that no one in history is so rich!
During the US presidential election, Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and social media platform X, was in the news. Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent money like water for Republican Party candidate
