The Congress’ hopes of returning to power in Punjab rest on Captain Amarinder Singh. A popular face of the Congress in Punjab, the 73-year-old was recently given command of the party&’s state unit in view of the February 2017 Assembly elections.

He is leading the charge against the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bhartiya Janta Party (SAD-BJP) combine. A former chief minister of Punjab, Capt Singh had handed a crushing defeat to current Union finance minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Amritsar, despite all efforts of the ruling combine and the “Modi wave”.

Head of the royal family of the erstwhile state of Patiala, he is married to Preneet Kaur who served as a minister of state in the Union external affairs ministry between 2009 and 2014. He spoke on the poll scenario in Punjab as well as the Congress strategy against the Parkash Singh Badal government. He believes people in Punjab are disillusioned with the Badal government which has pushed the state backwards during its rule since 2007. For Capt Singh, Arvind Kejriwal&’s Aam Aadmi Party&’s (AAP) is no challenge in Punjab. Some excerpts:

The Congress high command has shown great faith by appointing you the PCC president just a year before 2017 Assembly elections. How confident are you of ensuring the party&’s return to power?

We are very confident. People are totally disillusioned with the Akali-BJP misrule for last nine years. Development has come to a standstill. Government has no money even to pay salaries of the staff. Now people compare and recall our regime between 2002 and 2007. Every section felt happy unlike today when every section is feeling frustrated.

Bitter factionalism is seen as the main problem before the Congress. How are you addressing this problem?

We don’t have any factionalism in the party. Difference of opinion is part of democratic functioning. We started at a positive note with all our senior leaders including Ms Bhattal, Mr Partap Bajwa and Mr Jagmeet Brar all attending my taking over function. We are working as a team. As I have said already the PCC is not going to be a one man show but a collective effort by all.

What are the main issues you will focus on in your poll campaign ?

Economic slide as we have over Rs.1.25 lakh crore debt. Nobody is ready to lend us any money. Punjab is taking loans to pay interest on the existing loans. We are in a vicious debt trap. Then, unemployment and drug peddling. Industry is closed or shifting out. Agricultural crisis is at its worst with farmers committing suicide almost every day. These are our main issues.

You have expressed openness for alliance with like- minded opposition parties. Is there a possibility of a Bihar-like Grand Alliance in Punjab?

We are already working on that. I have met some leaders of likeminded secular parties. We are keen to forge an alliance with the BSP. An alliance in Punjab is very much a possibility, rather a probability.

After winning four Lok Sabha seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP has emerged as a contender in Punjab politics. But the party is not prepared for an alliance with Congress. Do you think the outfit can spoil Congress chances for dividing the Opposition votes?

I don’t know about AAP, we have no intention of aligning with them either. AAP has already peaked out in Punjab and its decline has already started. It is now vertically split. Besides, they don’t have any credible and experienced leader people can identify or relate with. I really don’t see them as any challenge anymore.

The SAD leadership accuses you of flirting with the radical elements for electoral gains. Your reaction?

This is a ridiculous charge. And I don’t need Akalis’ certificate about my secular credentials. Let me ask you who got militants released? Who is glorifying the militants? Me or the Badals? We have laid down great sacrifices to retrieve peace in Punjab when Akalis were either hiding or helping the militants and radicals.

You have termed the SAD-BJP rule as “a disastrous decade”. Why is it so?

It is not just me, it is everybody who believes and rightly so that it has been a disastrous decade. See the debt we are under thanks to the Akalis. Law and order is at its worst. Drug peddling is so rampant that an entire generation has been destroyed. Today we have thousands of parents who have lost their children to drugs and thousands of children who have lost their parents to suicides. In fact disastrous is an understatement. They have destroyed Punjab and it will take a huge effort to redeem the situation.

You recently accused the Narendra Modi government of unleashing a “political vendetta” against top Congress leadership and claimed that you may be the next target. What makes you feel so?

The National Herald case is a Congress party matter. What is BJP leader Subramanian Swamy&’s locus standi to pursue this case? Why target P Chidambaram and his son and Vir Badra Singh? And when my name was being proposed for the PCC presidentship they raised a false charge that my family has a Swiss account when the Swiss Bank authorities had already clarified way back in 2011 that none of our family members had any bank account there.