Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: Congress is leaning towards announcing CM Charanjit Channi as its chief ministerial face for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi announced Channi’s name for a second assembly seat of Bhadaur along with his traditional seat of Chamkaur Sahib.
This move is seen as a result of the feedback in Congress as well as pressure from strategists. The feedback also suggested that Congress needed to come out with its CM face in view of AAP naming comedian-turned-MP Bhagawat Mann as its CM candidate. As per some sources, Congress is looking for a special occasion to name the CM candidate.
As per the Congress scheme of things, a sitting CM is the automatic CM face for the polls. But, now uncertainty in Punjab stemmed from a strong claim to the leadership position made by state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Last week, during his Punjab visit, Rahul Gandhi announced that both Sidhu and Channi had urged him to announce a CM candidate.
It is probably for the first time that Punjab state is witnessing a serious multi-cornered contest. A section of farmers jumped into Sanyukt Samaj Morcha creating five fronts along with AAP and Akali Dal. Meanwhile, former CM Amarinder Singh formed a new party and made an alliance with BJP.