India / Pained by events of last 5 months: Amarinder to Sonia hours before quitting

Chandigarh: Hours before quitting as Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh had on Saturday written a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressing anguish at political events of the last about five months, which he said were clearly “not based on a full understanding of the national imperatives of Punjab and its key concerns."

In the letter, former Punjab CM had indicated his apprehension of instability in Punjab as a result of the political developments in the state unit of the Congress.

“Notwithstanding my personal anguish, I hope this will not cause any damage to the hard-earned peace and development in the State, and that the efforts I have been focusing on during the last few years, would continue unabated, ensuring justice to one and all,” wrote.

He also highlighted the achievements of his government since the party came into power in Punjab. Singh claimed that his government fulfilled 89.2 per cent of poll promises in the state.

At the same time, Singh expressed his personal satisfaction at having done his best for the people as chief minister of Punjab, which, as a border state, “has many geo-political and other internal security concerns, which I tried to handle effectively without any compromise.” He said he was happy that the State remained fully peaceful, and there was complete communal harmony with no ill-will towards anyone.

He also drew Sonia’s attention to the fact that Punjab had been ranked Number One by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in School Education as a result of consistent efforts and investments in this sector.

"Of 19,000 schools in the State, 14,000 had been developed as smart schools, whereas the work was under progress in the remaining 5000 schools. “We have also started 8 new universities in private and public sector, established 19 new Government Colleges, and 25 new ITIs,” he further disclosed.