Congress under pressure to name Punjab CM nominee

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, January 12

Pressure is mounting on the Congress high command to declare a CM face for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Raising the issue at different levels of the party forum over the past few days, several leaders, including some ministers, have been demanding that instead of giving the Opposition a chance to raise the issue, the party should clearly name the chief ministerial candidate.

Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu are two main contenders for the party’s CM face.

A senior AICC leader said the Congress was waiting for AAP to declare its CM face before announcing its own decision. The names of former PPCC chiefs Sunil Jakhar and Partap Bajwa need to be kept in mind while analysing the scenario. A senior party leader said Rahul Gandhi had announced Capt Amarinder Singh as the CM face a week before the 2017 poll. “The party used the Punjabi (Capt Amarinder) versus non-Punjabi (Kejriwal) narrative to take the edge. This time, AAP is not likely to repeat the same mistake,” he said. CM Channi recently used the narrative of “custodian of Punjabiat” and “protector of farmers” to counter BJP’s charge of “security threat” to PM Modi. With over a month to go for the elections, it is to be seen as to how the Congress sustains the narrative in the elections that are likely to throw many surprises.