Chandigarh: The Congress party has created a flutter in Punjab by fielding many of its heavyweights, including former chief minister and state party chief, to take on ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other rivals in the Lok Sabha elections.
Punjab is an exception to the AAP and Congress national alliance. The party’s poll strategy so far is clear that AAP remains its biggest challenger. It is no where giving impression that it is soft towards AAP or playing friendly match as it is alleged by its rivals.
What makes the Punjab election interesting is a multi-cornered fight between AAP, Congress, BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal.
In such a case, Congress has banked on popular faces to build a public perception in its favour.
The major surprise in the Congress list is the selection of Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring from Ludhiana.
A fierce poll battle is expected between Warring and AAP’s Ashok Parashar Pappi. Former Congress leader Ravneet Bittu, who quit the party in the run-up to polls, is in the electoral race on a BJP ticket from the constituency.
Other than Warring, the party’s Dalit face and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has been fielded from Jalandhar, which was Congress’s bastion before AAP won here in the by-election in 2022.
Due to his deeper connection among the constituency’s Dalit voters, Channi, many believe, is a main challenger to his political rivals here from AAP and other political parties.
Interestingly, except Congress, candidates of all other parties are party hoppers. For instance, AAP fielded Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Pawan Kumar Tinu after its candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the BJP and became its official nominee.
After losing Tinu to AAP, Akali Dal then poached Congress leader Mohinder Singh Kaypee and fielded it from here.
Meanwhile, another spotlight in the Congress list is the party’s three times MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from Sangrur – a bastion of AAP chief minister Bhagwant Mann in Punjab’s biggest Malwa region.
Khaira is a known Mann critic. He blamed his recent arrest in a narcotics case as Mann’s vendetta politics.
Khaira’s candidature in Sangrur is a clear challenge to Mann’s dominance in the area.
Former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is another party heavyweight nominated from Gurdaspur, a border area seat which was earlier occupied by BJP leader and actor Sunny Deol. This time BJP has dropped Deol and fielded local leader Dinesh Babbu.
Randhawa is sitting MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, one of the assembly segments in the Gurdaspur seat.
In the last assembly election, Congress won five of the seven seats in the Gurdaspur district. With Randhawa in the driving seat, it hopes to repeat its assembly performance in Lok Sabha too to trounce its rivals here.
Other notable names in the Congress list are Dharmvira Gandhi from Patiala, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu from Bathinda, Vijay Inder Singla from Anandpur Sahib, Kulbir Singh Zira from Khadoor Sahib and Yamini Gomar from Hoshiarpur.
The party announced candidates on 12 of 13 seats in Punjab with one nomination pending on Ferozepur seat.
From divided house to poll ready
The Congress was a divided house in Punjab till very recently. Several of its prominent leaders deserted the party mainly to join the BJP.
From there, the party has made the right noises ahead of the poll season by fielding popular faces in the state.
Several political experts The Wire spoke to are of the view that Congress and AAP remain top challengers in the state.
For instance, political analyst Pramod Kumar told The Wire that the main fight in Punjab is between Congress and AAP with Akali Dal trying to revive itself and BJP hoping to be an accidental beneficiary of this multi-cornered fight.
Another analyst Harjeshwar Singh believes that Punjab is witnessing four-cornered contests. In such a close situation, the profiles of candidates become important.
“Congress is certainly trying to push harder by building the right noises, especially with the choice of their candidates, ” he added.
He, however, said it does not mean that there is no internal opposition to the Congress list. There is opposition in Patiala, Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib by other party claimants. The party even missed Rana Gurjit Singh from Khadoor Sahib.
“But the party appears largely united and this is a positive sign, ” he added.
