Chandigarh, January 17
Reposing faith in the old guard, the All-India Congress Committee named a few new faces and replaced some old warhorses with their spouses or siblings in a list of 98 candidates released tonight.
The party has given tickets to seven women candidates, including Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mrs Razia Sultana, Mrs Aruna Chaudhary, Mrs Gurknawal Kaur, Mrs Sukhjinder Kaur Rana, Mrs Supinder Kaur Kalkat Cheema (new face) and Mrs Harchand Kaur. It has fielded a former police chief.
The newcomers named tonight include Mr Abraham Irshaad (Dhariwal), Dr Dharambir Agnihotri (Naushera Panuan), Dr Dilbag Rai (Mahilpur), Mr Rajnish Kumar (Mukerian), Mr Jasbir Singh Pal (Gardhiwala), Mr Hardyal Singh Kamboj (Rajpura), Mr Rakesh Sharma (Banur) and Mr Kewal Singh Dhillon (Barnala). Mr Dhillon, a prominent industrialist, remained senior vice-president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and is close to the Chief Minister.
Col Babu Singh (Nihalsinghwala) is also a new entrant while in Budhlada the party reposed its faith in Mr Mangat Rai Bansal.
Both Mrs Gurkanwal Kaur and Mr Tej Parkash Singh have been retained as party candidates from the constituencies held by them — Jalandhar Cantonment and Payal, respectively.
The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, will contest again from Patiala while his deputy, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, has been named again from Lehragagga.
No candidate has been announced from Samana from where a brother of the Chief Minister, Mr Malwinder Singh, is believed to be in the run.
Besides, no candidates have been named for Bathinda (constituency of Finance Minister Surinder Singla), Phagwara (Mr Joginder Singh Mann) and Kharar (Mr Bir Devinder Singh). Mr Singla, sources say, may be the party’s candidate for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat where a byelection is to be held for a seat vacated by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu of the BJP.
The party has again named Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Dhillon to oppose the Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, in Lambi.
In spite of pressure from the Rai Sikh community, the Congress retained all sitting
MLAs in Ferozepore, including Mr Hans Raj Josan (Jalalabad), Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi (Guru Harsahai) and Mr Balmukand Sharma (Ferozepore). None of the Rai Sikh aspirants could get the ticket.
While Speaker Kewal Krishan is replaced by his son Rajnish Kumar in Mukerian, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, gets the ticket from Khanna which was represented by his wife Harbans Kaur in the outgoing Vidhan Sabha.
Mr Arvind Khanna (Sangrur) has been replaced by Mr Surinder Pal Singh Sibia.
Mr Pritam Singh Bhinder, who once headed the Punjab Police as Inspector-General, will contest from Gurdaspur replacing former Education Minister Khushal Behl. Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, a member of the Rajya Sabha, had died recently after a
protracted illness.
Among the new faces are Mr Jasbir Singh Khangura (Qila Raipur), who replaces his mother B.K. Khangura. Similarly, Mr Rakesh Sharma, son of a former Finance Minister, Mr Hans Raj Sharma, gets the ticket from Banur. He replaces Ms Seelam Sohi.
Mr Kuldeep Singh Bhattal, a brother of Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, replaces his brother, Mr Manjeet Singh Bhattal, from Dhanaula.
The president of the Kapurthala District Congress Committee, Mr Sukhpal Singh Khaira, will again oppose former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee chief Jagir Kaur in Bholath.
Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, who rejoined the Congress, has been given the party ticket from Hoshiarpur. Mr Charanjit Singh had represented the Congress in the Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur before revolting on being denied the ticket in the last General Election and had joined the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Some bureaucrats in the list of aspirants did not find place in the first list. They include Mr Ajaib Singh Bhatti and Mr Rakesh Ahir. Mr Ahir remained Deputy Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Also in the run is a former senior railway official from Nathana.
Mr Nirmal Singh, who left
the SAD to join the Congress a few days ago, has been made the party candidate from Shatrana. Since the Congress MLA from Rajpura, Mr Raj Khurana defected to the BJP, the party has chosen Mr Hardyal Singh Kamboj as its new candidate from there.
