Congress leader Rahul Gandhi named Capt Amarinder Singh as his favourite politician from the BJP, with the former Punjab chief minister saying that while his personal and family relations with Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi will always be there, politically he remains committed to the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi's remark came in a video shared on Instagram by the Congress leader.
"I get along with him; he is cool. He is an expert on military history. Hello, uncle Amarinder," Gandhi said.
In a fresh outreach to Gen Z, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched an "Ask Me Anything" session on Instagram, answering several questions.
Posting a link to his Instagram initiative on X, Gandhi said, "Students, Gen-Z -- I'm here to listen. Ask me anything on Instagram, and I'll answer as many questions as I can."
Reacting to Gandhi's remark, Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said it was nice of Rahul Gandhi to speak well of him.
He said he has known Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi since they were children and their father and former prime minister late Rajeev Gandhi was his classmate and a friend.
Amarinder said, everywhere across the world, except in India, personal relationships are separate from one's political commitments.
He said, while his personal and family relations with Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi will always be there, politically he remains committed to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Amarinder recalled that in 1980 he was a Congress MP, while his mother, late Maharani Mohinder Kaur, was an MP from a rival party.
"Would that mean I won't be getting along well with my mother?" he asked.
Pritpal Singh Baliawal, senior spokesperson of Punjab BJP, said, "Capt sahab is the tallest leader in Punjab".
Baliawal said, but Gandhi is remembering Capt Amarinder when the grand old party faces "severe infighting and bickerings" in its Punjab unit. Congress is a sinking ship, he added.
Referring to the circumstances which led to Amarinder Singh's exit from the Congress in 2021 when he was Punjab chief minister, Baliawal said Gandhi should also remember that time when he did not feel "Capt Amarinder was cool, a leader or an uncle".
"At that time, Gandhi did not value Capt sahab's contributions for Punjab or even the service which he had also rendered for the grand old party. Now, when Congress is witnessing severe infighting and bickering and the Congress ship is sinking, Gandhi is remembering Amarinder Uncle," Baliawal said.
When reporters here asked Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh about Gandhi's remark, he said both leaders have family relations and said the former CM was a respected leader.
Asked if he wishes Amarinder should return to Congress, Rana Gurjit said, "I don't wish anything". He then added Amarinder should not have left Congress.
"Had he stayed he would have been like a father figure where everyone would have consulted him on various issues," he said.
When Amarinder was in the Congress, he was one of the strongest regional satraps of the party and had steered the Congress in 2017 to a landslide victory in the 117-member assembly to become the Punjab chief minister for the second time.
He resigned from the CM's post and quit the Congress in 2021 due to infighting in the party's state unit, and formed a new party, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), which he later merged with the BJP after the PLC failed to win any seat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.
Singh's wife and former MP Preneet Kaur, son Raninder Singh and daughter Jai Inder Kaur are now also with the BJP.
In 2019, when he was with the Congress and chief minister of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, while wishing Gandhi on his birthday, had tweeted and said, "Wish you a very happy birthday, dear @RahulGandhi. Proud of who you have become over the years; I see my dear friend (late) Rajiv (Gandhi) in you".
In December last year, Amarinder Singh had said he still felt hurt by the manner in which he was removed as chief minister when he was with the Congress. "The question of joining Congress does not arise," he had then said in an interview with PTI Videos.
However, he had said he would always help Congress leader Sonia Gandhi if she asked, although "not politically".
Amarinder Singh had also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he had "special affection for Punjab" and "would do anything for the state".
He had urged the people of Punjab to consider the BJP for "stability", saying India's security and Punjab's interests were linked.
