Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh who on Sunday while claiming that the Congress and AAP were alone in direct contest in the Punjab Assembly polls, said he will request Priyanka Gandhi to campaign for the party along with her mother Sonia and brother Rahul in the State elections.
“Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would be campaigning for Congress in Punjab and I would also request Priyanka Gandhi to help with the electioneering in the State,” he told reporters here.
Hitting out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement that a Dalit will become the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab if AAP comes to power in the polls, Singh said, “The AAP Government in Delhi has no Sikh or Dalit Minister.”
On being questioned over the delay in announcing the party candidates for the State polls, slated for 2017, the senior Congress leader said, “SAD and AAP are one-member and one-family party respectively, while Congress is a well-structured organisation that works on principles and processes.”
He said the delay in the announcement would have no impact on the prospects of victory of Congress candidates in the polls, adding that they would get ample time to engage in electioneering.
Asked about the chances of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu joining Congress, Singh said he was yet to announce his decision, which the party has left to him
He claimed the fight in the upcoming state polls is between his party and AAP, whose “standing is on the decline” and they had to bring 50,000 people from other States for campaigning.
Speaking about the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, he claimed, “The fight is between Congress and AAP. SAD-BJP alliance is nowhere.”
Welcoming into Congress fold AAP founding member and its State vice-president C M lakhanpal along with three leaders PK Sharma, Iqbal Pannu and Barpur Singh, Amarinder claimed the party’s graph is coming down as people of Punjab is disillusioned.
He also said, “Arvind Kejriwal’s claim that if his party comes to power in Punjab a Dalit will be made the deputy chief minister is fraudulent. There is no Sikh or Dalit minister in his Delhi government,” he said.