Punjab Assembly Elections: PLC chief Captain Amarinder Singh releases first list of 22 candidates; ex-CM to contest from Patiala urban

Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress on Sunday released its first list of 22 candidates for the Punjab Assembly elections. The party announced its candidates for 22 of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly in its first list.

Amarinder will himself contest the polls from Patiala urban.

‘Will contest from Patiala, won’t leave my family’s home of 300 years. Will seek votes on my own govt’s achievements & @narendramodi govt’s accomplishments at Centre.”: @capt_amarinder @plcpunjab pic.twitter.com/VNBJoIqvES

— Raveen Thukral (@RT_Media_Capt) January 22, 2022

As per ANI, Singh said, “Of 22 candidates, two candidates are from Majha, three from Doaba and 17 from Malwa region.”

Amarinder said all these candidates had strong political credentials and were known faces in their respective constituencies. There is one woman on the first list.

Amarinder added that the second list was likely to be released in two days.

As per the Tribune, PLC has 37 of the 117 seats in the state as part of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and SAD (Sanyukt), with discussions still in progress on another possible  five seats.

Farzana Alam Khan, a former SAD MLA and wife of late DGP Izhar Alam Khan, will contest from Malerkotla, The Tribune said.

In addition to Amarinder and Farzana Alam, another key candidate from Malwa is the current Patiala mayor, Sanjeev Sharma, who will contest the Patiala rural seat.

Kamaldeep Saini is the candidate from Kharar, while Jagmohan Sharma will contest from Ludhiana east. The Ludhiana south seat will be represented by Satinderpal Singh Tajpuri.

Besides Amarinder, there are eight other Jat Sikhs in the list. Four of the candidates belong to the SC community, three to OBC community, while five are Hindu faces.

Raj Nambardar, a prominent Hindu face from Bathinda, will contest the polls from Bathinda urban. Bathinda Rural will be represented by Sawera Singh.

The PLC candidate from another reserved seat, Budhalada, is Subedar Bhola Singh Hasanpur. Dharam Singh Fauji has been selected as the PLC candidate from Bhadaur (SC).

The Sanaur seat will be contested by Bikramjit Inder Singh Chahal, son of Amarinder’s close associate and advisor BIS Chahal, with the Samana candidature going to Surinder Singh Kherki.

In Majha region, Tejinder Singh Randhawa is the candidate for Fatehgarh Churrian, while Harjinder Singh Thekedar will fight the Amrtisar south seat.

PLC received a shot in the arm after senior Congress leader and two-time MLA from Garhshankar Luv Kumar Goldy along with his supporters joined the party on Monday, said ANI.

Goldy said that he always had faith and confidence in the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh. He said that he joined the PLC after he took the confidence of his supporters.

Goldy said, “Punjab needed the leadership of Captain Amarinder the most as his successors had proved utter failures. The Congress party was in a state of civil war and the Congress candidates will lose deposit in most of the constituencies.”

Welcoming Goldy into the party, Captain Amarinder, who is in isolation due to COVID, said, “Goldy belonged to a respectable political family of Garhshankar which had great contributions towards the freedom of the country and welfare of the state.”

Dharam Singh Fauji, a Municipal Councillor from Barnala also joined the Punjab Lok Congress on Monday along with his supporters.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) postponed the voting dates for the Punjab Assembly election to 20 February. Earlier, the State was scheduled to go for polls on 14 February.

This comes after several political parties, including Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s party Punjab Lok Congress, requested the Commission to postpone the elections.

ANI’s report said that the request was made as many people from the Scheduled Caste community from State are likely to visit Varanasi, in view of Guru Ravidas birth anniversary on 16 February.

According to the statement issued by the ECI, the last date for filing the nomination for the candidates is on 1 February, while the candidates can withdraw their nominations till 2 February.

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday said the party high command will decide the chief ministerial face for the upcoming State Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place on 20 February, ANI said in a report.

“Congress takes decisions after analyzing the qualities of every leader. I have full faith in the party. There is a party high command to decide CM face. Whatever the party high command will decide, we will accept t

he decision,” Sidhu told ANI when asked about the Congress chief ministerial face in the Assembly elections.

The senior Congress leader slammed AAP-projected chief ministerial face, Bhagwant Mann, in the ensuing Punjab Assembly elections who he said neither can hold a press conference nor give any statement without consulting party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

As per ANI, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Election Commission of India on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till 31 January, said a press release by the Election Commission.

But the Election Commission has enhanced the limit of persons for the door-to-door campaigns from 5 to 10 persons, as per the statement. Meanwhile, the commission has permitted video vans for publicity at designated open spaces with COVID-19 restrictions.

The decision came after the Election Commission of India held a meeting earlier in the day with the Union Health Secretary and the Chief Health Secretaries of the five poll-bound states to review the ban on holding physical roadshows and rallies by political parties ahead of Assembly elections.

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra along with Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar, Anup Chandra Pandey, Secretary-General, and concerned Deputy Election Commissioners also held a comprehensive review of the present situation with respect to status and projected trends of the COVID-19 pandemic in the five poll going states, said a press release by Election Commission of India, ANI said.

With inputs from agencies

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