Manipur’s Year of Agony
But everything changed in the month of May, as the state's ethnic fault lines cracked open and long-simmering tensions came to the boil.
The Congress on Saturday declared its first list of candidates for the Punjab Assembly poll, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to contest from his current segment Chamkaur Sahib and state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu from his current segment of Amritsar East.
While deputy Chief Minister Om Prakash Soni will contest from Amritsar Central, his current seat.
Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa has been fielded from Qadian constituency of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha segment as per the first list of
86 candidates announced on Saturday for the February 14 Punjab elections.
Advertisement
Bajwa’s brother Fateh Jung, the sitting MLA from Qadian, defected to the BJP after the Congress decided to field Partap Bajwa from Qadian.
In a bid to placate senior party leaders seeking tickets for their kin, Congress has tickets to family members of the some leaders in this list but has stuck to the one ticket one family rule.
Among the candidates fielded today are Sandeep Jakhar, the nephew of Congress Punjab campaign chief Sunil Jakhar, from Abohar, Mohit Mohindra, the son of minister Brahm Mohindra from Patiala Rural, Malavika Sood, the sister of actor Sonu Sood from Moga and singer Sidhu Moosewala from Mansa.
The Congress has retained sitting MLA Gurpreet Singh GP from Bassi Pathana, which CM Channi was seeking for his younger brother Manohar
Singh.
Other ministers in the list are Bharat BHushan Ashu from Ludhiana west, Aruna Chaudhury from Dina Nagar reserved segment, Tript Rajinder Bajwa From Fatehgarh Churian, deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa from Dera Baba Nanak, Rana Gurjeet Singh from Kapurthala, Pargat Singh from Jalandhar Cant, Manpreet Badal from Bathinda, Sangat Singh Gilzian from Urmar, Gurkirat Kotli from Khanna, former minister Balbir Sidhu from SAS Nagar, Punjab Congress working chief Kuljit Nagra from Fatehgarh Saheb.
Punjab Youth Congress leader Amarpreet Lally is the party candidate from Garhshankar.
Advertisement
