Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh to float his party ahead of polls, BJP jibe from Navjot Sidhu

Singh, who was asked to resign as the Chief Minister by his former party Congress weeks ago, addressed a press conference where he said as quoted by NDTV, "I will form a political party in Punjab. I do not have the details yet."

However, he turned down any possible alignment with Congress' arch-rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"I never said that I will align with the BJP. All I said was that I, my party, will look for a seat-sharing agreement," he said.

As the Chief Minister, Singh was succeeded by Charanjit Singh Channi, who is close to Punjab Congress Committee chief and Captain's adversary Navjot Singh Sidhu.

After Singh made the announcement, a jibe came from Sidhu who has alleged a nexus between the former Chief Minister and BJP.

"We the 78 MLAs of Congress, could never imagine, what we received an arm-twisted, ED controlled BJP loyal Chief Minister of Punjab @capt_amarinder… who sold the interests of Punjab to save his skin ! You were the negative force stalling Justice & development of Punjab," tweeted Sidhu.

Singh has recently backed the BJP-led central government's move to expand the jurisdiction of Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab (and some other states) that have triggered the fresh debate on federalism in the country.

On this, the former Chief Minister said, "The security forces are professional and are there for our security. They are in no way a threat to the government, nor are they taking over the government in Punjab, so let them do their duty and protect the state and the citizens of India."