Congress list of candidates for Punjab polls to take more time

SOURCES SAY THE LIST HAS BEEN WITHHELD ON THE REQUEST OF STATE LEADERSHIP FEARING REBELLION BY THOSE DENIED PARTY TICKETS

Apprehending rebellion, the Congress has decided to further delay the announcement of its first list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab.

The party’s central election committee, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had in its December 3 meeting discussed the names of contenders of 63 seats and cleared 56-57 candidates. Some members of the poll panel had raised objections to the nomination of the remaining six to seven candidates.

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh had told the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday that the first list of about 60 candidates out of the total 117 seats will be declared immediately after the party’s election panel meeting.

However, Congress sources said the list has been withheld on the request of the state leadership as it feared there could be rebellion by those denied party tickets. “Some of those left out could also leave the Congress and join other parties,” a party functionary said.

A senior Congress leader said the complete list could be announced anytime after the second meeting of the party’s central election panel on December 8.

The sources said many “turncoats but winnable candidates” from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are likely to be fielded from seats where the Congress nominees are weak.

Many SAD, BJP and AAP leaders have recently joined the Congress after they were either denied re-nomination or had fallen out of favour in their respective parties. The induction of former Akali leaders Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Deepinder Singh Dhillon, Harinder Pal Singh Harry Mann and Inderbir Singh Bolaria has caused much

resentment among the Congress loyalists.

While Phillaur was sacked by the Akali Dal as jails minister after the enforcement directorate (ED) summoned his son — and later the minister himself— in a drugs case, Dhillon is facing stiff opposition from certain Congress quarters for his utterances against party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Dhillon had once reportedly questioned Gandhi’s ability to revive the sagging fortunes of the Congress in Punjab and claimed that wherever he went the party suffered irreparable setbacks.