Sikki is Congress bet, announcement soon
Sunday, 24/01/2016
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CHANDIGARH: The Congress has finalised the name of former MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikki for the Khadoor Sahib bypoll slated for February 13.
Congress general secretary and in-charge of Punjab affairs Shakeel Ahmad sent Sikki’s name to party president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday morning for approval. “Since the party in- charge for selecting candidates, Madhusudan Mistry, is in Lucknow with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the name will be announced in a day or two,” Ahmad told HT. On Sikki’s reluctance to contest, he said Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh will speak to Sikki in this regard.
Though the party had shortlisted three names, Sikki’s name was finalised in a meeting between Ahmad and Amarinder in Chandigarh on Thursday. At the meeting it was decided that the former MLA remained the party’s best bet to reclaim the seat that has fallen vacant after his resignation in protest against sacrilege incidents.
Sikki, who is incommunicado, owing to his annual ‘sewa’ at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, will also have to be present in person to file his nomination papers. Since he will only be able to join the campaign after January, the Congress will have to hit the ground running as the ruling Akali Dal’s campaign is in full swing and the party has assigned divisions to senior leaders to micro-manage the polls.
Sikki had earlier issued a press statement saying he would abide by the party’s decision. “I have been performing ‘sewa’ every year in January and I can’t break my routine. I will put forward my point of view before the PCC president. Whatever he and the high command decide, I will abide by their decision,” his statement had said.
