Congress MP Ambika Soni rejects offer, says Punjab Chief Minister must be Sikh leader
The Congress MP on Sunday stated that she had declined the offer because she believes that Punjab’s Chief Minister should be from the Sikh community.
FollowSenior Congress leader Ambika Soni turned down an offer to become Punjab's next Chief Minister, where Amarinder Singh stepped down a day before saying that he feels “humiliated”.
Ambika Soni’s name was doing the rounds as one of the frontrunners for the top job in the poll-bound state as the Congress party deliberated over the issue of the next Punjab Chief Minister.
The Congress MP on Sunday stated that she had declined the offer because she believes that Punjab’s Chief Minister should be from the Sikh community.
"I am not going to Chandigarh. The meeting is going on there with the general secretary and observers. They will decide and let the high command know. I have made my stand clear that for Punjab there has to be a Sikh face," Soni told ANI.
Also read: Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa likely to be next Punjab Chief Minister: Sources
When asked whether the Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted her decision not to become the Punjab chief minister, she said, “When I explained my point of view to the party leader, they took my views.”
“It has been my belief, not from today but since the past 50 years, that the main face or the chief minister of Punjab should be a Sikh. It is the only state in the country where Sikhs can be made a chief minister,” she added, refusing to name the person who could become the next CM of the state.
Following Amarinder’s resignation, the names of four senior Congress leaders — Sunil Jakhar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Partap Singh Bajwa — were doing the rounds as probable candidates for the top post.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to elect the next Chief Minister of Punjab has zeroed in on senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to succeed Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister of the state, according to sources.
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