A move viewed as a fine balancing act.
Congress on January 11 formally formed manifesto and campaign committees for the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab,
Polling in the state is to be held in a single phase on February 14.
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While the Congress had earlier named former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar as chiefs of manifesto and campaign committees respectively, party president Sonia Gandhi approved other names by January 11.
In the face of intense factional feuds, the move is seen as a fine balancing act to accommodate all groups within the state unit.
The 20-member manifesto committee includes Deputy Chief Ministers OP Soni, Surjit Singh Swach, Amit Vij, Jaiveer Shergill, Ashok Choudhary and others.
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Ravneet Singh Bittu, Amarpreet Singh Lalli, Rajkumar Verka, Vijay Inder Singla, Raja Waring and Navjot Dhaiyya are included in the 25-member panel headed by Mr. Jakhar to campaign for the party.
final list
The committees have been announced before the final list of candidates is approved by the Congress’s Central Election Committee (CEC) later this week.
So far, the Screening Committee headed by Ajay Maken, comprising Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mr Jakhar, has held six meetings to shortlist the candidates. But the process of preparing the final list of candidates has become a complicated matter.
The party has to take into account the possibility of defections and abandonment; Sitting MLAs and leaders who do not get tickets may switch to the recently launched Punjab Lok Congress of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh (Retd), which has forged an alliance with the BJP.
“For our party more than our political rivals, this election is about tackling the demands of different groups and the arrogance of different leaders,” a party leader said. Hindu,
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