Bittu Congress candidate from Ludhiana, Kaypee Hoshiarpur
Wednesday, 26/03/2014
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CHANDIGARH: After fielding its stalwarts in Punjab, the Congress has tried to beat anti-incumbency against its sitting MPs by playing a game of musical chairs.
In its seventh list on Tuesday, the party ended the suspense over Ludhiana, from where union minister Manish Tewari has opted out citing health reasons, by bringing in Ravneet Singh Bittu, who was replaced from his current seat Anandpur Sahib last week by senior leader Ambika Soni.
Another union minister Santosh Chowdhary, a Dalit and woman face of the Congress in Doaba, has been kept out. Acting on feedback that both its sitting MPs — Santosh and Mohinder Singh Kaypee — were facing strong anti-incumbency in the Dalit heartland, Santosh has been replaced by Jalandhar MS Kaypee, whose seat has gone to former Punjab minister Chaudhary Santokh Singh.
Chaudhary Santokh’s son Vikramjit Chaudhary, the Punjab Youth Congress president, was being seen as a strong contender for the ticket; but going along with the strategy of pitching senior candidates, the party decided to field the father.
