Congress relies on women faces for Hoshiarpur, Faridkot seats
Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, April 22
Reworking its strategy, the Congress has fielded two women candidates, who are not only fresh faces, but will also address the issue of woman quota in the allocation of ticket for the parliamentary elections.
The party has dropped Faridkot sitting MP Mohammed Sadique.
Pitched against stars and seasoned politicians, the party has fielded Dr Amarjit Kaur Sahoke from Faridkot and she will face the BJPs’ Hans Raj Hans and AAP’s Karamjit Anmol.
A senior party leader says that giving an element of freshness, the party has given new faces instead of trying old warhorses. Moreover, Dr Sahoke, a former government teacher, is a local face and people will be able to connect with her, instead of sending a parachute candidate.
Similarly, in case of Hoshiarpur, the party ignored senior leader like former PPCC chief Mohinder Kaypee, who joined SAD today, and other candidates like former MP Santosh Chaudhary. The ticket has been given to Yamini Gomar, who had left AAP in 2016 to join the Congress.
In 2014, she unsuccessfully contested the LS poll. She is pitched against Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who left the Congress to join AAP, BJP candidate Anita Som Parkash, wife of Union Minister of State Som Parkash, and SAD candidate Sohan Singh Thandal.
The parliamentary seats for which the candidates are yet to be announced are Ferozepur, Khadoor Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur. The central election committee is expected to meet in the next three days.
In the first list, the names of six candidates — Charanjit Channi from Jalandhar, Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala, Gurjit Aujla from Amritsar, Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib, Sukhpal Khaira from Sangrur and Jeet Mohinder Sidhu from Bathinda — were announced.
In Anandpur Sahib, the party is going to give ticket to a Hindu leader and former Cabinet minister in the Capt Amarinder Singh cabinet and then in the Channi government. Hindu leaders have been demanding tickets in three segments.
