Punjab polls: Congress issues first candidate list

The initial list of candidates for the 86 seats in the Punjab Assembly Elections-2022 has been announced by the Congress. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will run in Chamkaur Sahib (SC), while Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu will run in Amritsar East, Pratap Singh Bajwa will run in Kadian, and musician Sidhu Moosewala will run in Mansa. Other candidates include Pargat Singh from Jalandhar Cantt, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa from Dera Baba Nanak, and OP Soni from Amritsar Central.

Malvika Sood, the sister of actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood, will run from Moga, while Pratap Singh Bajwa will run from Qadian.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), for example, have already announced their candidate lists for the Punjab Assembly elections, which will be contested in a single phase on February 14. On March 10th, the results will be announced.

Despite growing concerns about the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) scenario, all political parties in Punjab have stepped up their electoral preparations. The battle for Punjab has intensified this year, as the state has been engulfed in many concerns, including farmer protests, and the ruling camp has been embroiled in harsh infighting.

After a meeting of the Central Election Committee conducted under the auspices of party chairwoman Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, the Congress party finalized the names of its candidates in Punjab. According to party insiders familiar with the situation, there is a lack of unanimity on re-electing some of the current MLAs.

The Congress secured an absolute majority in the 2017 Assembly elections, winning 77 seats and deposing the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party administration, which had been in power for ten years. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came in second with 20 seats, followed by the SAD with 15 seats. Three seats went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Punjab Congress was engaged in a crisis in September of last year, which saw former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh resigning. He has now founded his own political party, the Punjab Lok Congress, and plans to run for all 117 seats in an alliance with the BJP in the upcoming elections. 

List of candidates: