List to be out next week: Capt
Monday, 12/12/2016
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NEW DELHI: Denying any differences with the Congress high command over the selection of candidates for the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, state Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the list would be out next week.
“No differences with the Congress high command on tickets. These are false reports. The list of candidates will be announced next week.”
The former CM said since the Congress is a large party, it needs to go through systems and processes to ensure proper ticket allocation. He denied there was a delay in shortlisting of candidates. “Two meetings of the scrutiny committee and the central election committee of the party have been held and we have cleared a number of candidates,” Amarinder said.
“Once the scrutiny committee sends the final names, it will be decided. We still have enough time. Our candidates will have at least 45 days to campaign,” he said. As for the opposition within the party over candidates, Amarinder said: “We’ll not sideline senior Congress leaders. We look for strong candidates who have come from other parties only in places where there is no Congress candidate. There are a few gaps as some leaders have left us.”
Asked if cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu will join the Congress, Amarinder said: “I hope so. I have full confidence. I had a good meeting with him. It was very positive. Let him come from Mumbai. Let us wait for him to take the decision.”
Asked about Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans’ decision to quit the Congress and join the BJP, the Punjab Congress chief said he might have taken this decision to earn recognition at the national level.
