Party sources said the Congress is likely to announce its chief ministerial face for Punjab on February 6 when former party president Rahul Gandhi will visit the state. Rahul Gandhi, during his last visit to Punjab on January 27, had announced that the Congress would contest the Punjab Assembly elections with a CM face and a decision on this would be taken after consultation with party workers.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has started discussions with party leaders and workers on the chief ministerial candidate. Sources said the party is seeking answers from Congress leaders and workers through its Shakti app.
The party has also sought the opinion of the general public on this issue and this process has started in the last two days. Sources said that Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Punjab on Sunday, February 6 and make an important announcement.
Over the past several weeks, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have directly or indirectly claimed to have declared themselves as the party’s chief ministerial candidates. The Congress seems to be putting its weight behind Channi, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community and has been fielded from two assembly seats Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur.
SCs and STs have been the traditional vote banks of the Congress, but they drifted away from the party after the rise of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and some other smaller groups. The Congress is now trying to strengthen the SC vote bank, which comprises nearly a third of Punjab’s population, by electing Channi in place of former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
Channi, a three-time MLA from Chamkaur Sahib, is the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab. He is the only party candidate to contest from two seats. The Congress has followed the ‘one family, one seat’ formula in allotting tickets to its candidates in Punjab.
While addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar last week, Rahul Gandhi said that Channi and Sidhu have assured him that whoever is chosen as CM, the other will support him. Gandhi made this statement after Sidhu at the rally demanded the party to declare the CM’s face for the election and said that he did not want to be a “showpiece”.
The differences in the party continued even after Amarinder Singh was removed and promoted to the post of Channi. The Congress is trying to retain power in Punjab and is pitted against the Aam Aadmi Party, SAD-BSP and BJP, which have joined hands with Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Shiromani Akali Dal (United).
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