Captain Amarinder Singh says Punjab CM 'misleading' farmers with 'false promises'

Responding to a tweet by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi about meeting the protesting farmers on the new agricultural laws, Singh pointed out that talks with farmers were nothing new, that he communicated with the farmers regularly when he was at the helm of the Punjab government.

Reacting rather strongly to the Chief Minister's tweet, Amarinder Singh's spokesperson, Raveen Thukral, said Channi was "misleading" the farmers with the claim that appeared to indicate as if he was the only one speaking with farmers and not the previous Chief Minister.

"My government did all this, Charanjit Singh Channi. We spoke to farmer leaders on farm laws and passed our own amendment laws in the assembly too. But the Governor is sitting over them and he will sit over any new laws. Please don't mislead farmers with false promises," Thukral said, quoting Amarinder Singh.

After his exit from Congress, Amarinder Singh announced he would neither rejoin the party's ranks nor accept BJP's invitation. He has announced to form his own party which is being seen as a direct challenge to Congress.

Singh has indicated that he would speak to the BJP and other parties for seat-sharing in the next Punjab assembly elections.

"I want to build a strong collective force in the interest of Punjab and its farmers," Amarinder Singh's spokesperson tweeted, quoting him.

He denied reports that he engaged in backchannel talks with Congress leader, who want him to stay in the party.