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.
Information collection on VVIPs started in 1957: Government
New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The practice of collecting information about VVIPs for their security started as early as 1957, the government said on Monday, as the Congress created an uproar alleging
Corona virus: more than 2 lakh infected patients in the country, more than one lakh were cured
New Delhi: The number of corona infected patients in India has crossed two lakh. According to the data released by the Ministry of Health today, there are a total of 2,07,615 patients in India at this
Why Amit Shah is meeting with MPs, BJP gave this answer amid discussions of cabinet expansion
Home Minister Amit Shah had held frequent meetings with many BJP MPs in the past. Since then there were speculations that perhaps these people could be made a part of the cabinet expansion of the Modi
China Coronavirus: Crowd of people at railway stations and airports, fear of this is troubling experts
Coronavirus in China: Coronavirus has caused widespread devastation in China. Despite the dire situation, the government has resumed air and rail services. Railway stations and airports in China's
Lockdown: Police stopped vehicle coming to hospital, son picked up sick father and ran for 1 km
Thiruvananthapuram
World's Most Happiest Country: India ranked 126th in the Global Happiness Index of 143 countries, and Finland remained on top for the seventh consecutive time.
India ranks 126th among 143 countries in the Global Happiness Index. In this index released on Wednesday, Finland has topped for the seventh consecutive time and Israel is in fifth place despite the
Three Northeastern States Celebrate Foundation Day
Agartala/Imphal, Jan 21 (IANS) The northeastern states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya Wednesday organised numerous programmes and events to celebrate their 43rd foundation day.Prime Minister
Will make Delhi safe for everyone: Kejriwal
New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Newly sworn-in Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday condemned attacks on Christian institutions in the national capital.Addressing a gathering of thousands in
US-Pakistan-China: How an American document increased the heartbeat of Pakistan and China, what is so special about it
A US government document has worked to increase the heartbeat of Pakistan and China. Though the reason for both is different the problem is for both. The US released the US National Security Strategy
BJP hails rail budget, Congress questions resource availability
New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The ruling BJP hailed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's budget for 2015-16 Thursday calling it "reformist" and "revolutionary" but opposition Congress questioned how the
