Desperate to return to power in Punjab after 10 years, the Congress appears to be in a fix over announcing its remaining 40 candidates as the party fears the rejected candidates would rebel against the official candidates.

State Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and ticket aspirants have been camping in New Delhi for over a month now, but apparently consensus is still eluding the main Opposition party when it comes to candidates for 40 of the 117 Assembly segments.

Even as the other political parties, including the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have already announced most of their candidates and are busy with their poll campaign, Congress is clearly lagging behind as it’s yet to announce 40 of its candidates.

The Congress will hold yet another brainstorming session on January 6 in the matter, but this delay in announcing the rest of the candidates are being attributed the ‘tough call’ the party needs to take select right candidates.

The on-going infighting within the Congress after announcement of 77 tickets has also made the task difficult as the party fears further rebellion against official candidate will severely dent its prospects.

Congress insiders said that top party leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Ambika Soni are much concerned about the candidates where ‘winnability’ is much doubtful and Opposition candidate is strong.

The earlier two Congress lists did not mention the names constituencies where for candidates who have recently joined the Congress from SAD or the BJP are in contention for the ticket.

These include Amritsar east, claimed by former BJP legislator Navjot Kaur Sidhu who joined Congress last month and Phillaur which is eyed by Sarwan Singh Phillaur, the former SAD legislator from Kartarpur.

Similarly, senior vice-president Lal Singh, a sitting legislator from Sanaur seeking ticket for himself and his son even as Capt Amarinder is insisting on ‘one family one ticket’ policy.

Former Lok Sabha member from Ludhiana, Manish Tewari is a strong contender for Ludhiana East, but sitting member of Parliament Ravneet Bittu, it is learnt, is opposing his candidature.

Congress general secretary Asha Kumari, who is also party’s Punjab election in-charge, said, “There are some seats where competition is stiff due the strong candidatures”. “The Central election committee is looking into it and will sort it out soon”, she said.