Congress leadership plans electoral strategy for Punjab

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

As the Congress high command tries to project a united face in Punjab amid the unease between Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) is now undertaking micro-management of the election strategy for the forthcoming Assembly polls due early next year.

With the list of office-bearers of the new body of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) yet to be sent to the AICC for approval, party’s top leadership is concerned over the preparedness for the upcoming elections.

“By now, the PCC leaders should have been out in the field. But the body is still not in place, despite Sidhu being elevated as the state body chief in July,” said a senior party leader. Sources said AICC observer Harish Chaudhary, who has been camping in Chandigarh for the past few days, was closely monitoring the election-related strategy.

Chaudhary is tipped to be the Punjab affairs incharge in place of Harish Rawat, who is keen on returning to Uttarakhand that goes to the polls around the same time as Punjab. In the 2107 elections, Chaudhary as Punjab affairs secretary had played an important.

A senior party leader said to bring cohesion between the government and party (read Sidhu), the top leadership had started directly interacting with MLAs and other leaders. The top brass does not want to rely on Sidhu alone, as Channi is also prepared for electioneering beyond Punjab.

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