In wait & watch mode, Congress keeps Lok Sabha probables in Punjab guessing

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, March 10

Ahead of the Congress central election committee meeting for Punjab, intense lobbying has begun for party tickets for 13 parliamentary seats.

The All-India Congress Committee (AICC)-formed screening committee, headed by party leader Bhakta Charan Dass at its meeting on Sunday, is learnt to have decided to delay the finalisation of candidates due to some reasons, though discussions have already been done on two to three candidates for each seat.

Top shots may enter fray

Don’t be surprised if the top guns like Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rana KP Singh, PCC chief Amrinder Raja Warring, CLP leader Partap Bajwa and former CM Charanjit Channi will be asked to contest the elections. Senior Congress leader

“Since the BJP and AAP have yet to announce candidates and efforts are being made to poach on party leaders, the screening committee will be meeting again in the coming days”, said a senior leader.

Sources said senior leaders opposed the candidature of the sitting MPs GS Aujla (Amritsar), Ravneet Bittu (Ludhiana) and Manish Tewari (Anandpur Sahib). A senior party leader, however, said it was difficult to deny ticket to the sitting MPs and various factors had to be taken into consideration. The choice of Anandpur Sahib candidate has been linked with the Chandigarh seat.

Senior party leaders fear that as in the case of former Jalandhar (West) MLA joining AAP before becoming MP in the Jalandhar bypoll and now former MLA of Bassi Pathana GP Singh joining AAP with hope of being fielded from Fatehgarh Sahib, some of the sitting MPs might also go to AAP as the ruling party was looking for potential candidates.

Sources in the party said it had also been decided that family members of senior leaders would not be given tickets. “Do not be surprised if the top guns in the Punjab Congress like Sukhjinder Randhawa, a former minister and general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, Rana KP Singh, former Speaker of and chairman of the screening committee for 11 states, PPCC chief Amrinder Raja Warring, CLP leader Partap Bajwa and former CM Charanjit Channi would be asked to contest the elections”, said a senior leader.

To have consensus ahead of today’s screening committee meeting, Punjab affairs in-charge Devendra Yadav and Warring met party leaders last evening in Chandigarh. A section of leaders in the PPCC was keen on fielding Pargat Singh from Anandpur Sahib. Whereas Rana Gurjeet, Rana KP Singh and Amarpreet Lally are claimants for the seat.