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India News Politics

Captain says Congress made a mistake by declaring CM’s face

Pointing out that leaders like Channi and Sukhjinder Randhawa had backstabbed him and misled the Congress high command after he had supported them in their political careers, the PLC chief said these men could not be trusted…reports Asian Lite News

Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the Congress had made a big mistake by announcing a chief minister’s face as “a chief minister should be decided on grounds of capability and not on the metric of caste, be it a Scheduled Caste, Jat or Hindu, which they had done.”

Pointing out that Punjab was never before divided on caste or religious lines, Capt Amarinder said “Charanjit Channi does not have the calibre of a chief minister,” and his tall claims cannot fool the people of the state.

“Channi claims he has done everything in 111 days, he’s fooling the people. Every project has a gestation period and takes months to start,” he noted, warning the people against getting carried away by such brazen lies since all the projects that Channi talks of were initiated by his government.

Interacting with the media after a public meeting in support of the Patiala Rural PLC candidate, Sanjeev Kumar Bittu, the former chief minister warned of an explosion soon from Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had been discarded by his own party for chief ministerial candidature in favour of Channi, saying the PPCC president was too ambitious to stay quiet for long.

Pointing out that leaders like Channi and Sukhjinder Randhawa had backstabbed him and misled the Congress high command after he had supported them in their political careers, the PLC chief said these men could not be trusted.

“They will compromise the interests of Punjab to further their own,” he warned, in response to questions. He recalled how he had inducted Channi into the Congress and helped him become MLA and ensured Randhawa’s seat in the last election.

Answering a question, the former chief minister said there was no comparison between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi as far as political and public life experience goes.

He had known Modi for long and used to meet him frequently in Delhi at a time when they were both chief ministers, he said, adding that the Modi government had helped him whenever Punjab was in dire straits.

“We have to work with them to ensure a safe future for Punjab,” he stressed. “The future of Punjab depends on these polls,” he said, underlining the need for close Centre-state coordination to secure the state’s interests.

To a question on whether his wife, MP Preneet Kaur, would campaign for him or the Congress, Amarinder said it was for her to answer that.

“Politics is different…my mother was in the BJP and I was in the Congress. We sat in opposite benches in Parliament. Politics politics ‘hoti hai pyaar pyaar hota hai’,” he remarked.

Urging the people to vote for “vikas” which only the NDA could provide and not “vinaash”, which the other parties would push Punjab towards, Amarinder expressed confidence that the people of the state would look after their interests and vote accordingly.

He trashed the surveys favouring the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying such polls were conducted even in 2017 and had proven to be false. While he could not predict the number of seats they would get, his party in alliance with the BJP and SAD (Sanyukt) was set to form the next government, he asserted.

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India News Politics Punjab

Captain to contest from Patiala, releases list of 22 candidates

The PLC’s share in seat allocation for the Majha region currently stands at seven, while the Doaba region accounts for four seats…reports Asian Lite News

Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) candidates from 22 constituencies for the February 20 polls, with clear focus on winnability while ensuring due representation across regions and various sections of society.

He himself is in fray from his home constituency of Patiala (Urban). Four of the 22 candidates belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) community, three to Other Backward Class (OBC) community, while five are Hindu faces (three Pandits and two Aggarwals).

The PLC has currently got 37 of the 117 seats in the state as part of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and SAD (Sanyukt), with discussions still in progress on possibly another five seats for the party.

Of the 37 seats in the PLC kitty, the maximum of 26 are from Malwa region, which Capt Amarinder had single-handedly transformed into a game-changer for the Congress in the 2007 polls with his ground-breaking Water Termination Act of 2004 as well as the introduction of BT cotton.

More recently, it was Capt Amarinder’s strong and unequivocal support to the agitating farmers in the region, which was the epicentre of their protest before it shifted to the Delhi borders, that played a decisive role in the final outcome to the issue.

The former Chief Minister’s hand is being seen in the eventual revocation of the farm laws by the Centre. Also Capt Amarinder has strong family ties with the region, which used to be part of the erstwhile royal estate of Patiala.

The PLC’s share in seat allocation for the Majha region currently stands at seven, while the Doaba region accounts for four seats.

Releasing the first list of nominees, the PLC leader said all these candidates have strong political credentials and are well known faces in their respective constituencies.

There is one woman in this first list. Farzana Alam Khan, a former SAD MLA and wife of late DGP Izhar Alam Khan, will contest from Malerkotla in the Malwa region.

Besides Capt Amarinder, who had on Saturday itself announced his decision to fight from his home constituency of Patiala (Urban), there are eight other Jat Sikhs in the well balanced first list.

In addition to Capt Amarinder and Farzana Alam, another key candidate from Malwa region is the current Mayor of Municipal Corporation Patiala, Sanjeev Sharma, who was President of District Youth Congress for a number of years. Sharma will contest the Patiala (Rural) seat.

Kamaldeep Saini, former PPCC secretary, has been finalised as the candidate from Kharar, while Jagmohan Sharma, who was President of District Congress Committee, Ludhiana and is currently the PLC district president, has been selected for Ludhiana (East).

The Ludhiana (South) seat will be represented in the PLC by Satinderpal Singh Tajpuri, the son of a former Cooperation Minister in the previous Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government.

Prem Mittal, an SAD ex-MLA from Mansa and former Senior Deputy Mayor of Ludhiana, will contest from Atamnagar, while Damanjeet Singh Mohi, an active Youth Congress functionary who has formerly been Sarpanch, Zila Parishad member and Chairman of Market Committee Mullanpur, will fight from Dakha.

A popular Dalit face and a retired PPS officer, Mukhtiar Singh has been nominated for the party ticket from the reserved constituency of Nihalsingh Wala.

The Dharamkot seat ticket has gone to Ravinder Singh Garewal, an advocate, agriculturist and businessman. Amarjeet Sharma, a medical practitioner who has been working at the grassroots for over a decade, has been pitched from Rampura Phul.

An established businessman, transporter and agriculturist, Raj Nambardar is a prominent Hindu face from Bathinda and will contest the polls from Bathinda (Urban).

Incidentally, his father Dev Raj Nambardar also contested from Bathinda in 1985. Bathinda (Rural), a reserved constituency, will be contested by Sawera Singh, son of late MLA Makhan Singh and currently Vice Chairman, Punjab Water Resources Management Corporation.

The PLC candidate from another reserved seat, Budhalada, is Subedar Bhola Singh Hasanpur, who served the Indian Army for 28 years and was unanimously elected Sarpanch of his village.

Three-time Municipal Councillor and former member Improvement Trust, Barnala as well as ex-President SC Wing of SAD, Dharam Singh Fauji has been selected as the PLC candidate from Bhadaur (SC).

The Sanaur seat will be contested by business and youth social activist Bikramjit Inder Singh Chahal, son of Capt Amarinder Singh’s advisor B.I.S. Chahal, with the Samana candidature going to Surinder Singh Kherki, former Member of Panchayat Samiti.

In the Majha region, Tejinder Singh Randhawa is the candidate for Fatehgarh Churrian, while ex-MLA and former Chairman of Forests Corporation Harjinder Singh Thekedar will fight Amrtisar (South).

The first list of candidates from Doaba region includes Amandeep Singh, former Punjab Congress spokesperson, for Bholath, and former Indian Hockey Team captain, Ajitpal Singh, for Nakodar.

Vows to empower girls

On the National Girl Child Day, former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday resolved to empower the girls by giving them education, freedom and equal space.

Singh’s fledgling the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) is contesting the Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP and SAD (Sanyukt),

“On #NationalGirlChildDay, I salute our girls and their accomplishments in various fields,” Amarinder Singh tweeted.

“They are the real change-makers, truly our future. Let us resolve to empower them, give them education, freedom and equal space and see the wonders they do,” he further tweeted.

Amarinder Singh on Sunday released the first list of candidates for 22 constituencies for the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls and announced that he will contest from his home constituency — Patiala (Urban).

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