The Congress on Saturday released its second list of candidates for Punjab, including former IAS officer Dr Amar Singh from Fathegarh Sahib, folk singer-turned-politician Mohd Sadiq from Faridkot and former MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa from Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituencies. With this, Congress has named nine candidates for Punjab. Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats. The names were finalised in a meeting with AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, PPCC president Sunil Jakhar and general secretary in-charge Asha Kumari were present in the meeting. Click here for more election news The four seats remaining are Ferozepur, Bathinda, Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur. While Shiromani Akali Dal is likely to name former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his Union minister wife Harsimrat Kaur from Ferozepure and Bathinda, respectively, the Congress is looking for strong candidates for these two seats. Sources said Gandhi was “not pleased” with Punjab Congress taking the same names of probables in today’s meeting even though he had asked the state unit to re-conduct a screening committee meeting and come back with other names. But after the screening committee meeting Friday, the state unit took the same list to him on the pretext that they could not think of any other names. Gandhi agreed to finalise Dimpa instead of former minister Inderjit Singh Zira for Khadoor Sahib constituency even though the contest there is turning “panthic”. He chose Amar Singh over sitting MLA from Bassi Pathana Gurpreet Singh GP for Fatehgarh Sahib (SC reserved) seat. The MLAs in the LS seat have been demanding fielding of Amar Singh. In Faridkot (another SC reserved having predominant population of Majhbi Sikhs), Gandhi agreed on Mohd Sadiq, who had lost the 2017 assembly election. The party did not feel Jalandhar DCP Rajinder Singh, a Majhbi and a contender, fit the bill there. Read | 100 years of Jallianwala: A street fades away Sources said despite Local Bodies Minister Navjot Songh Sidhu’s and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu declining to contest from any seat in Punjab, the latter’s name was discussed as one of the strongest possible candidates against Harsimrat Badal. Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s name was also discussed but Bathinda seat was put on hold as it was stated that both were not willing to contest. The ball is in Gandhi’s court now. He is likely to hold another meeting with Punjab leaders on April 11 or 12. Sources said Gandhi is not enthused with Amarinder’s choice of fielding Cabinet Minister Vijay Inder Singla, a former Sangrur MP, from Bathinda now. Amarinder wants to field his aide Kewal Singh Dhillon from Sangrur. His name continues to be on screening committee’s list but Gandhi is learnt to have disagreed on his name for the second time. In Anandpur Sahib, it is learnt Gandhi is unlikely to field former Union Minister Manish Tewari, another choice of Amarinder. Tewari is being backed strongly by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But his deserting Ludhiana during last Lok Sabha election may come in the way of his candidature this time, said a party source. Similarly, in Ferozepur where Amarinder is pushing for his aide and Cabinet minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, the Congress president is not “very enthused.”
