CHANDIGARH, March 5: Maintaining that the appointment of the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee was the prerogative of the Congress President Ms Sonia Gandhi, former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today expressed his gratitude to the party and the people of Punjab who always stood by him during the last fifteen years.
In a message to the people and the party workers, he said, he will always cherish the love, respect and affection accorded to him by the party workers and the people from across the state during this period. He said, he will always stand by his people and continue to work for strengthening the party as he has always been doing.
Asserting that his long association with the Congress, particularly during the last fifteen years when he headed the party in the state twice and became the Chief Minister once, has been a matter of pride and honour for him, he said, he had contested three assembly and three parliamentary elections and has been grateful to the love and support showered by the people on all these occasions.
Capt Amarinder recalled that ever since he took over the reins of the party in 1998 he had continuously got the support of the people as the PCC president twice and as the Chief Minister once, besides leading the party’s parliamentary election campaign in 2009. “On each and every occasion I have been overwhelmed by the support of the people and the party who have always stood by me and helped me in strengthening the party and boosting the morale of the workers”, he said, while adding, he will continue to work for strengthening the party in future also.