New Delhi, April 14
Fifteen days to go for the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, the Congress today appointed former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal chairman of the Punjab election campaign committee and Jagmeet Brar, former MP, the committee’s co-chair.

To boost canvassing, the Congress also constituted the election coordination committee naming former party chief SS Dullo its chairperson and permanent invitee Lal Singh as co-chair.

In the 2009 polls, Capt Amarinder Singh was in charge of the state election campaign. Congress leaders today said they consciously decided this time to spare contestants and get senior non-contesting leaders instead to handle canvassing in the state.

Campaigning blues have been reported by several official Lok Sabha candidates in the state with many MLAs yet to campaign for them in their respective areas.

Manpreet Badal, Congress candidate from Bathinda, is also said to be eager that the top party leadership campaigned for him. So far, he has been waging a lone battle in a seat held by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister’s wife Harsimrat Badal.

Amarinder is locked in a high-stakes poll battle with BJP’s Arun Jaitley in Amritsar. That is why he has been excused from the campaign committee chairmanship this time. Nationally, both Congress chief Sonia Gandhi

and vice-chief Rahul, despite being candidates, are heading the party's campaign panel.

The appointments come a day after the Congress directed Punjab legislators to campaign for Lok Sabha candidates in their segments instead of parking outside the state.

Prominent absentees from the two committees (38 member campaign panel and 14 member coordination panel) are Information Minister Manish Tewari, who was excused from defending his Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat due to ill health; former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, being used by the Congress already to canvass for state Congress chief Partap Bajwa, contesting from Gurdaspur; MoS Health Santosh Choudhary; AICC secretary Ashwani Sekhri; Punjab Congress vice-presidents Kewal Dhillon, TS Soond, OP Soni, GS Kangar, CD Kambhoj, SPS Sibia and SS Bandala.

Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab Shakeel Ahmed told The Tribune today, “No contesting candidate (read Amarinder) has been named in the committees. We have roped in non-contesting leaders to build a united campaign and sustain the visible edge for the Congress.” Ahmed said Manish wasn’t named as he is heading Congress communications centrally. Importantly, though Amarinder-baiters Bhattal and Jagmeet Brar will chair the Congress poll campaign committee in Punjab between themselves, Captain’s confidant Surinder Singla will be its convener.

Another interesting appointment is that of Amar Singh as convener of the poll coordination committee. Amar Singh was secretary to Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh when he was Madhya Pradesh CM.