Punjab Congress Running Behind Schedule to Announce Candidates

AAP announced its first list in August, SAD announced its list on 16 November and Congress is struggling to keep up.

Punjab’s main opposition Congress party has missed its own deadline for announcing candidates for the assembly elections in the state, six months before the polls.

Rival and ruling party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the new challenger, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have taken the lead in doing so.

Punjab Congress president and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh stated in December last year that he would press for the announcement of candidates to be made at least six months before the polls.

Also Read: Amarinder Singh To The Quint: Congress Has No Opponents in Punjab

Will 2012 Repeat Itself?

Assembly elections are likely to be held in the last week of January or early February, as per Election Commission of India (ECI) officials. A senior Congress leader who is also a former minister, said:

By that measure, the names should have been announced in August. This delay in announcing names had happened before the 2012 assembly polls too and the party lost an election that it could have won. The AAP and the Akali Dal have already taken a lead over us on this front.

If not the complete list, at least the first list of sure candidates should be announced, the leader added.

Also Read: Sutlej-Yamuna Canal Row: Congress, SAD, AAP Scramble to Cash in

AAP Announced First List in August, SAD in November

The first list of Congress candidates is likely to be announced in the first half of December, leaving about 45-50 days for the candidates to campaign.

The Congress president will finalise the names after the central screening committee submits its views on the candidates shortlisted.

Amarinder Singh, Former Punjab Chief Minister

AAP, which has been grappling with internal issues in the past couple of months, has declared 80 candidates since August and is ahead of the other parties.

The Akali Dal, which has been in power with alliance partner BJP since 2007, had also announced its first list of 69 candidates on 16 November. The Akalis, who appear quite confident of getting a third term, will contest 94 seats, leaving 23 for the BJP.

(With IANS inputs)