Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress and announced the name of his party — Punjab Lok Congress — just months before the Assembly polls. The move by Singh came days after he dismissed reports of back-end talks with the Congress, saying the time for rapprochement is over. In his seven-page resignation letter, Singh also slammed the Gandhis for a “conspiracy” to oust him from the state government. 

In the letter to Sonia Gandhi, Singh said that despite knowing him “for the better part of his 52 years in public life” and “that too at a deeply personal level”, she never “understood” him or his “character”.