Lok Sabha Polls: Congress holds CEC meeting for Punjab

New Delhi [India], April 21 (ANI): A Central Election Committee meeting of the Congress party was held at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

The meeting, chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Sonia Gandhi was held to finalise candidates for the remaining Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and other states.

Senior Congress leaders of Punjab were present in this meeting.

Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will take place in the last phase on June 1.

Congress, which is going solo in general elections in the state, has fielded Gurjeet Singh Aujla from the Amritsar seat, Amar Singh from Fathgarh Sahib, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu from Bhatinda, Sukhpal Singh Khaira from Sangrur and Dharamvir Gandhi from the Patiala seat

Former CM Charanjit Singh Channi has been fielded from the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are contesting the election in Punjab separately despite being in alliance in other states.

Earlier, AAP announced four candidates for Punjab.

Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar will contest from Ferozpur, Amansher Singh from Gurdaspur. Pawan Kumar Tinu has been fielded from Jalandhar, and Ashok Parashar Pappi from Ludhiana.

Yesterday, in yet another blow to the Congress party, Tajinder Singh Bittu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarters in Delhi on Saturday in the presence of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and party general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Tajinder Singh Bittu resigned from his post as AICC Secretary-in-Charge of Himachal Pradesh and primary membership Congress.

This comes at a crucial time, in the backdrop of Lok Sabha elections being held across the nation. Bittu’s exit marks another setback for the Congress party, which has witnessed an exodus of big leaders in the last few weeks.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the INC-led UPA alliance won eight seats, while the NDA secured four. The Aam Aadmi Party, in its debut, won one seat.