Repeal farm laws, Captain Amarinder tells Shah during meet; national security discussed

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh met home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday evening, raising speculations on his future strategies. Singh had resigned earlier this month and indicated that his options were open.

Sources told ET that the meeting with home minister Amit Shah was scheduled for Tuesday, but was extended after Navjot Singh Sidhu's fiasco.

"Met Union Home Minister @AmitShah in Delhi. Discussed the prolonged farmers' agitation against #FarmLaws & urged him to resolve the crisis urgently with repeal of the laws & guarantee MSP, besides supporting Punjab in crop diversification: @capt amarinder."


The meeting between Singh and Shah lasted for about 50 minutes. Sources in the Captain's camp told ET that the discussion was centred around farmers and issues of national security.

Singh has been speaking on national securities issues and the BJP had aligned with his thinking many times. Singh's attack on Sidhu, on the day he resigned from the CM's post, was on national points. He raised the issue of Sidhu's friendship with Pakistani leaders and termed it as a threat to a state like Punjab which shares borders with Pakistan.

In August this year, as CM, Singh had announced an increase in MSP on sugarcane - a move for which he was honoured by leaders of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. The BJP, which has been looking for an opening in Punjab to go solo for the first time, could use the Captain moving ahead.

"It would be too premature to assume any outcome right now," a close aide of the Captain told ET. "But yes, all options are open as Captain Sahab had said and it was a freewheeling discussion."

Both the BJP and Captain Amarinder Singh didn't make any statement post the meeting. "Any person who is a nationalist and worries about the national security of the country is welcome in the BJP," Dushyant Gautam, BJP general secretary incharge of Punjab told ET. Dushyant was in Dehradun when the meeting took place between the two leaders in Delhi.