Facing opposition from within over “Akali-karan” of Punjab Congress unit, the state party chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday maintained that the former Akalis would be fielded only on seats where the Congress did not have its own nominees.
“Party candidates would be preferred in the allocation of tickets as against those joining from other parties…The latter would only be considered on seats where the Congress don’t have winning candidates of its own,” said Capt Amarinder while addressing media in the national capital after senior leaders from SAD and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) joined Congress.
Within the Congress, there was severe opposition over the reports that the new joinees, especially the sitting MlAs from the Akali Dal, would be given party tickets from their respective constituencies, ignoring the Congress leaders.
A section of Congress leaders are conflicting Capt Amarinder’s move to making more and more SAD leaders joining the party — something which may led to rebel within the party that too ahead crucial 2017 polls.
Among those who joined the Congress recently posing a threat to traditional Congress and ticket aspirants are Olympian Pargat Singh, Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Mahesh Inder Singh, Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu—all sitting MlAs, besides Deepinder Singh Dhillon and others.
Regarding declaration of party tickets for the upcoming assembly polls, Capt Amarinder hinted that the list of candidates would most likely be released in two lots, while assuring that all candidates would get enough time for campaigning.
Capt Amarinder also denied any disputes or differences on the tickets, saying that there was total consensus on the names being finalized by the scrutiny committee for submission to the Congress Electoral Committee (CEC). The date for the final CEC meeting, however, was not yet confirmed, he added.
“There is no delay and the process is going on the right track,” he said, adding that the dispute was only in the nature of “whether a father should contest or the son” and was not serious.
“We still have 40 days to go for elections. The tickets will be announced over the next few days. The screening committee is meeting again on Wednesday and then the Central Election Committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi will meet to declare the candidates. I think two lists will be announced,” he added.
At the same time, Capt Amarinder admitted that the Congress campaign is suffering as sitting legislators and aspirants are camping in Delhi leaving their constituencies. Maintaining that their presence is more required in their constituencies, he maintained that he wanted everyone to return to their respective constituencies.
Sources maintained that the state Congress’ screening committee has, until now, agreed only on about 70 seats while the discussion is on for the remaining ones.