Congress releases first list of 86 candidates in Punjab; CM Channi to contest from Chamkaur Sahib and Sidhu from Amritsar East

Votes will be cast for the Assembly elections in Punjab on February 14. The first list of candidates released by the Congress, the party in power in the state, has 86 names including that of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. Channi will contest from Chamkaur Sahib, his present constituency. Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Navjot Singh Sidhu will contest from Amritsar East. The party has fielded deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Om Prakash Soni from Dera Baba Nanak and Amritsar Central respectively. The two of them represent these seats in the current Assembly.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have already announced their candidates.

The Congress has decided not to field some of its sitting MLAs. These include Harjot Kamal from Moga, Balwinder Singh Laddi from Sri Hargobindpur Sahib, Nathuram from Balluana and Ajaib Singh Bhatti from Malout. Bhatti is also the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Laddi had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 28 along with Fateh Singh Bajwa but he returned to the Congress fold six days later. All other sitting MLAs have been given tickets from the constituencies they currently represent.  

The list was released after the party’s central election committee (CEC) chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi cleared the names in its meeting held on Thursday February 13.  The first list has as many as nine women candidates, representing around 10 per cent of the candidates so far. In Uttar Pradesh (UP), the party has given 40 per cent seats to women candidates. Of the 125 candidates declared by the Congress in UP so far, 50 are women.

The party has also adopted ‘one family, one ticket’ formula.

Controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who joined the Congress some time ago, will contest from Mansa. Actor Sonu Sood’s sister Malvika Sood has got the ticket from Moga. Moosewala will contest in place of sitting MLA Nazar Singh. Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa will contest the elections this time. He has been given the ticket from the Qadian constituency in Gurdaspur district. Earlier, his brother Fateh Singh Bajwa represented this constituency.

Former PCC president and campaign committee chief Sunil Jakhar will not contest the Assembly polls. His nephew Sandip Jakhar will contest the Abohar assembly seat instead. Similarly, Mohit Mohindra, son of Brahm Mohindra, will contest from Patiala (Rural) seat in place of his father.  

Other prominent candidates include finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal from Bathinda (Urban), PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur, water supply and sanitation minister Razia Sultana from Malerkotla and industries minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli from Khanna.

Other ministers like Rana Gurjit Singh will recontest from Kapurthala, Tript Rajinder Bajwa from Fatehgarh Churian, Randeep Singh Nabha from Amloh, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring from Gidderbaha and Pargat Singh from Jalandhar Cantt.

Former deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has been fielded from Lehra, the constituency she had lost in the last Assembly elections.  

Rupinder Kaur Ruby, who switched from the AAP to the Congress, has got the ticket from Malout (SC) constituency. She had been elected from Bathinda (Rural) in the last election on an AAP ticket. Former Punjab Youth Congress chief Amarpreet Singh Lally has been given the ticket from Garhshankar.

The Congress is yet to declare its candidate from Patiala (Urban), which was represented by former chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh. It will declare the names for the remaining 31 seats of the 117-member Assembly soon.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira has been given the ticket from Bhulatth. He had separated from the AAP in 2019 and launched his own party. But the same year he returned to the Congress, which he had left for the AAP in 2015. The party has also allotted tickets to Balbir Singh Sidhu, Sadhu Singh, Sunder Sham Arora and Gurpreet Singh Kangad. They had been removed as ministers after Channi took over last year.

The party has not allotted ticket to Harjot Kamal, the sitting MLA from Moga. Subsequently, he has joined the BJP. Meanwhile, former minister Joginder Singh Mann has severed his 50-year-old ties with the Congress and joined the AAP.