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.
Nepal: PM Oli to submit a vote of confidence on May 10, the decision taken amid Corona's second wave
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is facing a crisis in Nepal, will present a motion of confidence in Parliament on 10 May. KP Sharma Oli will offer this confidence motion as part of the continuance
IND vs SL: India beat Sri Lanka in a nail-biting match, won the series 3-0, read the thrill of the super over
India registered a spectacular victory in the third T20 match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. India won this match in the Super Over. With this, the Indian team also captured the series 3-0. This is
Money Laundering Act: All rights of ED including arrest, raid, and summons are right, Supreme Court's big decision
The Supreme Court has given a big decision on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In a setback to the people trapped in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate, the court has
Ashok Gehlot's show of strength was considered by the high command to be a breach of trust and an insult, the price will have to be paid
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot was being seen as the next president of the Congress till Sunday afternoon, but the story changed by the evening. Ashok Gehlot got the resignation of 82 Congress MLAs in
Israel Hamas War: US Secretary of State reaches Arab country amid war, will adopt new stance on Gaza ceasefire
The Israel-Hamas war is about to complete one month, but there is no sign of the war stopping. The Israeli army is continuously carrying out air and ground attacks on Gaza. Meanwhile, the Jordanian
TMC MP called Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan a 'broker', BJP said- apologies
Trinamool Congress MP Kailash Banerjee on Tuesday accused Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of acting as a 'broker' for the rich and criticized the Central government
14.5 lakh jobs in Canada, people are not getting: Big opportunity for Indians; Permanent residency will be available with a salary
Canada is set to employ 14.5 lakh, foreigners, in the next three years. Recently, Canada's Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said that the country's lack of labor force has caused a lot of damage to
Meghalaya CM has violated poll code, says Sangma's party
Shillong, March 27 (IANS) Former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Sangma's National People's Party (NPP) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission seeking action against Meghalaya Chief Minister
India launches fourth navigation satellite
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), March 28 (IANS) India successfully put into orbit its fourth navigation satellite with its own rocket on Saturday evening in copybook style.Exactly at 5.19 p.m., the
Raisina Dialogue: Latvia's Foreign Minister participated in Raisina Dialogue, said- we have good relations with India
The ninth edition of the Raisina Dialogue Conference started on 21st February. Politicians from around the world and leading people from other fields are participating in the conference. The objective
