Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that his party was open to forge an alliance with “like-minded secular parties” for the 2017 assembly polls.
Addressing his maiden press conference after taking over as state unit chief, Singh noted that the people of Punjab were “disillusioned” by the ruling Akalis and felt that AAP had “neither a face nor any policy” in the state.
He disclosed that he had spoken to the CPM leaders and PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal about the matter. He hoped that Mayawati’s BSP would also be positively inclined towards the idea.
On being asked whether the alliance was along the lines of the grand alliance of Bihar, Singh said,
I hope they (like-minded parties) will also understand that it is the question of Punjab’s future. Let us not make demands which other parties cannot meet.
Amarinder Singh said neither AAP nor SAD posed any challenge to the Congress in the state.
The former Punjab Chief Minister said AAP was unlikely to reap electoral gains in the 2017 Assembly elections, as the situation has changed from that of 2014, when AAP made healthy gains in the state.
He admitted that NRIs may have tilted towards AAP last year in Punjab, but “they are convinced this time that Congress should form the government”.
“We will be touring Australia and New Zealand soon. And in summer, we will go to the US, Canada and UK and then Germany. Italy and other European countries will also be covered. When we will convince them and I think they will agree that AAP is not a solution,” he said.
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