With BJP on ‘poaching’ spree, Punjab Congress in a fix over choosing Lok Sabha candidates

Tribune News Service

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, March 28

With the BJP on a poaching spree in the state, the Congress leadership is in a fix over the choice of candidates. Tweaking their selection criteria, the state leadership is now trying to focus on the potential candidates who do not have any chequered past or are not vulnerable to poaching.

Wary of any more defections, Punjab affairs in-charge Devendra Yadav is camping in Chandigarh to monitor the situation. Trying to decode the strategy and the perception game of the BJP, party leadership is now focusing on candidates who do have any Enforcement Directorate (ED) or vigilance case against them, so that there is no chance of arm twisting them. The party cites the case of Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who had a vigilance case pending against him.

The party has lost two leaders to the BJP. While Jalandhar MP Sushil Rinku left the party to join the AAP and then BJP, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu, a third generation Congressmen has also joined the BJP. Two other leaders Dr Chebbewal and Gurpreet GP have joined the AAP. Party leaders feel Dr Chabbewal could also be made to join BJP.

Not going into the status of investigations of cases by the ED, party leaders apprehend that the BJP can use the central investigating agency against Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sangat Singh Gilzian, former CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

While Gilzian is a prominent OBC leader, Ashu is a prominent Hindu face who can be fielded from Ludhiana. The tallest Dalit leader with the party is former CM Channi, who can be fielded from any of the four reserved seats - Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur. “Before the BJP tries to arm twist or woo any OBC or Dalit leader, we have to act,” said a senior PPCC leader.

Admitting that the BJP strategy was a cause of worry, PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the perception game of the BJP and polarisation of votes would fail as the deserters have lost their credibility. It has been seen that the voting trend in Punjab does not go with the national trend as in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

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