M A I N   N E W S

Cong selects 71 candidates
Punjab Assembly poll
Prashant Sood
Tribune News Service

The Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) has decided candidates for 71 of the 117 Assembly constituencies in Punjab while decision about 35 seats has been kept pending. The party has already decided to give 11 seats to the CPI.

Sources said that of the 71 seats decided so far, 14 were of the sitting MLAs. Discussions were completed on all Assembly seats at yesterday’s meeting of the CEC and had been left to Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with AICC treasurer Motilal Vora and PCC chief Amarinder Singh to decide on the pending seats. A decision on the pending seats, each having several strong contenders, was expected to be taken in the next two days.

The seats kept pending included Batala, Qadian, Srihargobindpur, Kahnuwan, Pathankot, Amritsar South, Attari, Patti, Jalandhar Cant, Jalandhar Central, Bholath, Mahilpur, Hoshiarpur, Sham Chaurasi, Tanda, Ludhiana West, Ludhiana East, Samrala, Nangal, Kharar, Banur, Samana, Sherpur, Barnala, Bhadaur, Dhanaula, Balluana, Ferozepore, Dharamkot, Bagha Purana, Panjgrian, Muktsar and Nathana.

The names which were believed to have been cleared at yesterday’s meeting of the CEC, which lasted for about six hours, included Mr Salamat Masih (Dhariwal), Mr Kushal Behl (Gurdaspur), Ms Aruna Chaudhary (Dina Nagar), Mr Ranjit Singh Waryamnangal (Majitha), Mr Harpratap Singh (Aajnala), Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sarkaria (Raja Sansi), Mr Gurinder Pratap Singh Kairon (Tarn Taran), Master Jagir Singh (Naushahra Panwan), Mr Gurchet Singh Bhullar (Valtoha), Mr Mahinder Singh Kaypee (Jalandhar South), Mr C D Kamboj (Lohian), Gurbinder Singh Atwal  (Nur Mahal), Ch Santokh Singh (Phillaur), Mr Tarlochan Singh (Banga), Mr R.P. Singh Chaudhary (Balachaur), Mr Rajanbir Singh (Sultanpur), Mr Balbir Raj Sodhi (Phagwara), Mr Pawan Kumar (Gardhiwala), Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra (Dasuya), Dr Kewal Krishan (Mukerian), Mr Darshan Singh Brar (Jagraon), Mr Malkait Singh Dakha (Dakha), Mr Rajinderpal Singh (Qila Raipur), Mr Shamsher Singh Rai (Chamkaur Sahib), Mr Lal Singh (Dkala), Capt Amarinder Singh (Patiala Town), Mr Randip Singh (Nabha), Ms Razia Sultana (Malerkotla), Mr Arvind Khanna (Sangrur), Ms Parmeshwari Devi (Sunam), Mr Sajjan Kumar Jhakar (Abohar), Mr Mahinder Rinwa (Fazilka), Mr Hansraj Josan (Jalalabad), Mr Sujawar Singh (Guru Har Sahai), Mr Ravinder S Sandhu (Ferozepur Cantonment), Mr Kuldeep S Bhullar (Zira), Mr Vijay Sathi (Moga), Ms Vibha (Kotkapura), Mr Raghu Bir Singh (Gidderbaha), Mr Harmahinder Singh Jassi (Talwandi Sabo), Mr Arvinder Singh (Pakki Kalan), Mr Kewal Krishan Aggarwal (Bathinda) and Mr Ajit Inder Singh (Sardulgarh).

While candidates of Fategarh Churian, Amritsar Central, Amritsar North, Verka, Sujanpur, Beas, Jandiala had been decided on Thursday, yesterday’s meeting also decided candidates for Rajpura, Kapurthala, Anandpur Sahib, Morinda, Ludhiana rural, Amloh, Ghanaur and Lambi. The party was likely to field Mr Tejprakash Singh, MLA from Jalandhar Cantt, from Payal.

The high command had kept pending decision on most of the seats sought by the senior leaders for their relatives. No decision had been taken on Samana where Capt Amarinder Singh’s brother was an applicant. Similarly, no decision had been taken in case of Muktsar where Ripanjeet Singh Brar, brother of Jagmeet Singh Brar, MP, was an aspirant. Many of those who got ticket were confidants of Capt Amarinder Singh.

The Sources said six party MPs who were not satisfied with the choice of candidates in their constituencies, today met Ms Gandhi. They said some of the seats given to the CPI were those where the candidates belonged to the MPs or to former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Several women aspirants also seemed upset at the decisions. The official lists were expected to be out in the next two days, the sources added.