Ambika for ticket to party loyalists

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 5

Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni today threw her weight behind party insiders in Punjab saying those who have suffered the ruling Akali Dal’s excesses for 10 years should have the first right on the party ticket in the poll-bound state.

“My personal view is that people who have endured the injustice of Akalis for years must get priority in ticket distribution over outsiders with a tainted past,” Soni told The Tribune today when asked to comment on Congress’ dilemma regarding fielding some outsiders who joined the party very recently.

Supporting Congress leadership’s move to get some celebrities like former Olympian Pargat Singh and the Sidhus on board, Soni said a fine balance needed to be struck between cadre nominations and those of outsiders. “We should not ignore people who have been suffering the excesses of Akalis while struggling in the opposition in Punjab,” Soni said.

Soni acknowledged that the Congress leadership was willing to look at declared seats if Punjab people come forward with specific inputs which can impact party’s prospects in that seat negatively.

The Congress has so far announced 77 candidates of the 117 seats in Punjab with Soni saying Congress had done far better than in the past on this front. She also defended Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh’s long stay in Delhi, dismissing talks of party’s campaign in Punjab slipping. “Our campaign in Punjab is on track and picking up,” she said.

The Congress is grappling with newcomers seeking tickets, including ex-Akali minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, a sitting MLA, and Inderbir Bolaria, sitting Amritsar South MLA. In Ludhiana, former Akali leader Kamaljit Singh Karwal is being considered a potential candidate with locals up in arms. He is said to have been involved in a past attack on the mother of ex-Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari.

Local Atamnagar Congress leader Kewal Krishan Bawa today quipped, “We have taken bullets on our bodies for the Congress during militancy days. How can ticket be given to Akalis who are four days old in the Congress? Where should we go, those who have spent 40 years here?”