Lal Singh remains hopeful of ticket

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 13

While the Congress has named Rajinder Singh as its candidate from Samana, his father and the party’s senior vice-president Lal Singh said that the battle was only half won.

He said that he was still in the race for “a ticket from Sanaur”, where he has won six elections.

Lal Singh had been lobbying actively in Congress political circles in Delhi to ensure that his son Rajinder Singh gets the ticket and his “political legacy continues in the Congress”.

With Rajinder facing Cabinet Minister Surjit Rakhra, the battle at Samana will be a tough one as Rakhra has been nurturing the constituency for over a decade.

Contrary to the stand taken by PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh who is against any family getting more than one ticket in this poll, Lal Singh is opposed to the idea and wants that a special case should be put up for his family.

“I know that both my son and I can win the two seats. I have been loyal to the Congress ever since I joined politics,” Lal Singh said. “I will stake a claim for the ticket from Sanaur.”

Sources said that Lal Singh was already on his way to Delhi to meet senior party leaders “to persuade them to consider his winning record in the same constituency”.

“Though the chances (of getting the ticket) are very bleak, we cannot out rule the fact that Lal Singh remains a strong candidate from Sanaur,” said a senior leader privy to the discussions in Delhi.

Yamini among 3 new state Congress VPs 

New Delhi: Three weeks to go for Assembly elections, the Congress on Friday appointed three new vice-presidents, one general secretary and one executive member for the state unit. New state unit vice-presidents are Yamini Gomar, who recently joined the party after quitting AAP; Chander Mohan Lakhanpal and Iqbal Singh Pannu. Praveen Kumar Bhardwaj has been appointed PPCC general secretary, while Bharpur Inderjit Singh is a new executive member of the party. tns