Rahul to take call on contentious Punjab seats today

Saturday, 06/04/2019

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CHANDIGARH: With the four-member Congress screening committee for Punjab failing to reach a consensus on candidates for five Lok Sabha seats, it has been decided to put the ball in party president Rahul Gandhi’s court.

The screening panel, comprising Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, state Congress president Sunil Jakhar, state affairs in-charge Asha Kumari and AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, met for the second round of discussions on Friday. The party’s central election committee (CEC) had on Tuesday cleared names for six seats and asked the panel to reach a consensus on the remaining seven.

But Amarinder Singh refused to budge on single names shortlisted for Anandpur Sahib (former Union minister Manish Tewari), Sangrur (former MLA Kewal Dhillon) and Khadoor Sahib (former MLA Jasbir Dimpa), all backed by Asha Kumari. With Jakhar and Venugopal not on the same page with them, the screening panel members are scheduled to meet the Congress president on Saturday.

“Rahul had raised some questions on these seats. It is difficult to say if a consensus will be

reached on Saturday,” a senior leader said.

During the CEC meeting on Tuesday, Rahul is said to have asked the panel whether Anandpur Sahib was Hindu or Sikhdominated. Tewari is a Hindu face and local leaders as well as three district presidents of the party had written to him that the seat was Sikh-dominated after delimitation.

On Sangrur, Rahul was told by Venugopal that Dhillon was not the “best” candidate. In party surveys also, former Sangrur MP and state minister Vijay Inder Singla fares better.

Though Singla said he was not keen on contesting, his name was suggested by Asha Kumari. Objecting to it, Rahul asked why was Singla’s name being proposed for Bathinda and not Sangrur and whether Sangrur was a Hindu or Sikh-dominated seat.

He was told by a member of the screening panel that though Singla won the seat in 2009, it was bagged by Bhagwant Mann, a Sikh, in 2014. Even Amarinder is learnt to have argued that Sangrur seat was won by mostly Sikhs before Singla.

In Khadoor Sahib, Amarinder Singh and Asha Kumari are backing Dimpa. But local leaders are opposing it, saying it is an out and out a panthic seat.

On Faridkot and Fatehgarh Sahib seats also, there is no consensus among screening panel members. The panel did not deliberate the name of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur. The former MLA had staked claim to the Chandigarh seat which has been allotted to former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Though Sidhus have outrightly ruled out contesting from any seat in Punjab, the screening panel is likely to list out the options before Rahul. Meanwhile, Sidhu will also be meeting the Congress president on Saturday.