Congress Screening Committee on Friday sent revised list of names of at least 70 candidates to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi For their final nod, sources say, the party may release its list anytime now. The party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) is not scheduled to meet on Friday.
Sources said that most of the names in the list were agreed upon by the screening committee. It is learned that these names were cleared by the Central Election Committee of the Congress on Thursday. The Screening Committee headed by Ajay Maken will meet again in the evening to clear the names for the second list.
“No CEC meeting has been held till date [Friday], We haven’t received any information. But the party can announce the first list anytime as they have a revised list with the consensus of all the candidates included. These names were read out by the CEC on Thursday and did not face any opposition. Wherever there were issues, they were resolved,” said a leader, privy to the discussion.
He said that most of the list had names of sitting MLAs and ministers and many obvious candidates. Despite opposition from former Punjab Congress president Sunil Kumar Jakhar, the screening committee was able to reach a consensus on the candidature of Naresh Puri, son of former minister Raghunath Sahai Puri. The screening committee was told by Navjot Sidhu, the current Punjab Congress chief, that Puri’s surveys were good and he was a winnable candidate.
It is also learned that the Screening Committee has kept pending tickets from Garhshankar, from where Jakhar is supporting PYC leader Amarpreet Lally and Chief Minister Charanjit Channi has supported Nimisha Mehta. Channi is learned to have told the screening committee that Mehta also has the support of Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari. Garhshankar was part of the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency. The ticket of Rajya Sabha MP from Kadian Pratap Bajwa has been finalized and his name may be in the first list.
This time also the party is not allowing anyone to change their constituency to contest elections. Cabinet minister Amarinder Singh Raja Waring will contest from Gidderbaha. Former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal can be fielded from Lehar Gaga. The candidates for some key constituencies including former CM Parkash Singh Badal’s Lambi, former CM Amarinder Singh’s Patiala (Urban) and Sukhbir Badal’s Jalalabad are likely to be decided later.
rumblings of disagreement begin
Meanwhile, even before the Congress released its first list of candidates, voices of discontent were rising from various quarters. Former minister and chairman of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, Joginder Singh Mann on Friday quit the Congress anticipating that the party was not going to announce him as its candidate from Phagwara. Mann is now likely to contain Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
He had claimed from Phagwara despite being a sitting MLA from Phagwara in BS Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal is supported by Navjot Sidhu, who has so far addressed a rally and endorsed him as a candidate. Phagwara.
Similarly, in Mansa, MLA Nazar Singh Manasahiya, who joined Congress after leaving AAP in 2019, also wrote a letter to the party high command saying that he should be given a party ticket. The party is planning to field Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who had joined the Congress a month ago, from this seat.
Manasahiya on Friday said that giving ticket to Moosewala will not help the party even though the party feels that a Punjabi singer, who is a rage among the youth, will increase its chances by grabbing the votes of youth across the state.
In Moga too, the sitting MLA Dr Harjot Kamal is likely to be rejected by the party this time. Congress has finalized the candidature of Malvika Sood Sachar, sister of Bollywood actor and social worker Sonu Sood, from this seat. Malvika had recently joined the Congress, though she was wooed by several parties.
Besides Dr Harjot Kamal, two more sitting MLAs – Ajaib Singh Bhatti from Malout, who is also the deputy speaker, and Nathu Ram from Baluana – may also be dropped. From Malout, the Congress is likely to field sitting AAP MLA from Bathinda (Rural) Rupinder Kaur Ruby, who had joined the Congress a few days back.
The ticket of Khadoor Sahib MLA Ramajit Singh Sikki is also being told “IFFI”. Jasbir Singh Dimpa, the sitting MP from Khadoor Sahib, has already claimed a share in this seat. However, the final decision is now left to the CEC whether they want the MPs to claim the ticket or allow a sitting MLA to continue.
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