Congress in charge for Punjab Shakeel Ahmed said the party would announce “in two days” the candidate for the Faridkot seat depending on the outcome of the ongoing parleys with the CPI.

Manpreet and state Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa drove together to the press briefing venue.

Around 40 PPP supporters from different parts of the state accompanied Manpreet, who later said he would contest the election on the PPP symbol. Bajwa said the party high command had cleared Manpreet Badal’s candidature. The statements by senior leaders, including former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, sent out a clear message of general acceptance of the decision within the party. Manpreet said, “I met AB Bardhan and other senior leaders of the CPI, who asked me to talk to the Congress to forge an alliance. I will be able to make any concrete statement only after two days.”

The CPM was not interested in the current tie-up, he added. About earlier parleys with the AAP, he said, “AAP leader Yogender Yadav had called me. I met him and Sanjay Singh. They asked me to lead the party in Punjab. I refused because AAP is still not clear about its agenda and I don’t want to forgo my bond with Punjab through the PPP as we conceived the original idea.” Claiming that it was an alliance of “secular forces against fundamentalist forces”, Bajwa said, “Only 40% voters polled for the SAD last time, which meant if like-minded forces got together, nothing could save the SAD-BJP alliance.”

Shakeel Ahmed, Cong in charge for Punjab