Punjab Cong candidates’ list out: Sidhu to fight from Amritsar East; Channi from Chamkaur Sahib

The Congress on Saturday (January 15) released its list of 86 candidates for the upcoming Punjab Assembly election.

The decision was taken following a meeting of the Central Election Committee held under the leadership of party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

News agency PTI quoted party functionaries to say that there was no consensus on repeating some of the sitting MLAs.

State party president Navjot Singh Sidhu will fight from Amritsar East while Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will contest from Chamkaur Sahib.

Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa and Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala will contest from the Qadian and Mansa constituencies, respectively. Actor Sonu Sood’s sister Malvika Sood has been given a ticket from Moga.

Also read: Channi needs more than safe rhetoric for bumpy ride called Punjab polls

Deputy CMs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Om Prakash Soni have been fielded from Dera Baba Nanak and Amritsar Central respectively. State transport minister Raja Amrinder Warring will try his luck from Gidderbaha.

In 2017, the Congress had won with a clear majority. The grand old party got 77 seats which led to the ouster of decade-old Akali Dal-BJP government. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had then emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats, with the Akalis managing to get only 15 seats. The BJP had to contend with three seats.

Here are some other prominent candidates:

Sangrur – Vijay Inder Singla

Amritsar West – Raj Kumar Verka

Bhatinda Urban – Manpreet Singh Badal

Majitha – Jagwinder Pal Singh (Jagga Majitha)

Fatehgarh Sahib – Kuljeet Nagra

Fatehgarh Churian – Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa

The assembly elections in Punjab will be held in a single phase on February 14. The votes will be counted on March 10.