Manmohan, Sidhu, Capt among 40 Congress star campaigners
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are among the party’s list of 40 star campaigners for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.
Former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha are also among the top campaigners for the polls. Both Sidhu and Sinha, who have earlier been with the BJP, have been roped in for the campaign in a bid to woo Punjabi and Purvanchali voters in the national capital.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh as well as chief ministers of Congress-ruled states — Capt Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry) — also figure in the Congress’ list of star campaigners that has been sent to the Election Commission by the party.
The Congress has announced names of 66 candidates so far for the election to the 70-member Delhi assembly and it is likely to leave four seats for its ally RJD.
Congress’ Delhi unit chief Subhash Chopra, campaign committee chief Kirti Azad, AICC in-charge of Delhi PC Chacko and NSUI chief Neeraj Kundan, will also campaign for various candidates in the highstakes poll battle.
Former chief ministers Harish Rawat and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia, senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Ghulam Nabi Azad, are also among the star campaigners.
Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor, who has been aggressively taking on the AAP and had launched the party’s campaign in Delhi, will also canvass for various candidates for the party.
The Congress is seeking to revive its fortunes in the national capital this time. It had won just eight seats in 2013 and drew a blank in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls.