Sidhu says Congress CM face should be capable of winning 60 seats in Punjab

Chandigarh, February 6, 2022

Ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's announcement of the party's chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, state Congress president Navjot Sidhu on Saturday said the CM face should be one who could win 60 seats in the 117-member assembly.

Gandhi is expected to make the much-anticipated announcement during a virtual address from Ludhiana in Punjab on Sunday. This will be Gandhi's second visit to the state in a week.

In his previous visit, Gandhi had assured workers that the party will decide the CM candidate well ahead of the February 20 polling.

"This election is for the betterment of Punjab, this election is for the future of Punjab. Shri Rahul Gandhi ji will announce the next CM face of Punjab via a virtual rally from Ludhiana on Feb 6, 2022," the Punjab Youth Congress said in a tweet.

A day ahead of the announcement, Sidhu, a contender for the job, said the CM's face will decide whether 60 contestants of the party become MLAs or not.

"The CM will be elected if there are 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking about 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking about the roadmap for a government to be formed," Sidhu told the media in Amritsar.

With Gandhi's assurance last week, a power struggle is on between Sidhu and and Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of a state where 32 per cent of the population are from the Scheduled Castes -- the highest in the country. Both are hoping to be named as the party's chief ministerial candidate.

Currently, voters have been getting tele-calls to give their opinion as to who the Congress should nominate as its chief ministerial candidate.

In the fray for 117 seats in Punjab are three prominent parties -- the ruling Congress, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, and two alliances -- the SAD-BSP and the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress.

Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.

IANS