Cong names 4 more for Punjab; fields PCC chief Warring to take on turncoat Bittu

The names were finalised at the party’s Central Election Committee meeting held on Saturday. With this, the party has announced candidates for 12 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. It is yet to name its nominee from Ferozepur constituency.

In Ludhiana, Warring, a three-time MLA from Gidderbaha, is pitted against Bittu, AAP’s Ashok Parashar Pappi and Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) Ranjeet Singh Dhillon. The 46-year-old has been chosen over state Congress working president and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a two-time former MLA from Ludhiana West Assembly seat, who was the leading contender for the party ticket from the constituency, to take on Bittu.

A Jat Sikh, Warring had unsuccessfully contested from Bathinda seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but lost to Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal. He had secured 39.2 per cent votes as compared to 41 per cent of Harsimrat.

Talking to The Indian Express, Warring, who was transport minister in the previous Congress government, said in Ludhiana, it will be a “battle” between “vafadari” (loyalty) and “gaddari” (betrayal).

“Rahul Gandhi has reposed faith in me as his “jarnail” in this battle of “vafadari” versus “gaddari” in Ludhiana. This is the time to tell that Beant Singh never believed in the ideology of BJP,” said Warring, while targeting Bittu, the grandson of slain Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

Earlier in a post on X, Warring said, “…Those individuals, once entrusted with responsibilities and showered with support by the party, turned out to be deserters…”.

Bittu, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana in 2014 and 2019 before switching to the BJP in March this year, meanwhile termed Warring as an outsider. “From the very beginning, it was abundantly clear that Congress had no faith in Ludhiana’s local leadership. That is why now they have pitted an outsider. He would never be able to connect to the masses. Congress has already accepted its defeat”.

Warring, however, said there “is nothing called outsider” in a parliamentary election and reminded Bittu despite hailing from Payal in Ludhiana, “he contested his first Lok Sabha polls in 2009” from Anandpur Sahib”. “A Punjab Congress president cannot be outsider in any constituency,” said Warring, who took over as party’s state unit chief in April 2022.

Randhawa, the Congress candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, was the deputy chief minister in the previous Charanjit Singh Channi-led government. He is the sitting MLA from Dera Baba Nanak seat and also the Congress in-charge for Rajasthan.

A four-time MLA, Randhawa will take on BJP’s Dinesh Babbu, SAD’s Daljit Singh Cheema and AAP’s Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi.

At one point, Congress had also discussed the name of Qadian MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa for Gurdaspur, the seat currently represented by BJP’s Sunny Deol. Bajwa, also a former MP from Gurdaspur, is learnt to have expressed his unwillingness saying he wanted to remain active in state politics.

Zira, the Congress candidate from Khadoor Sahib seat, will face AAP’s Laljit Singh Bhullar, BJP’s Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind, SAD’s Virsa Singh Valtoha and radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is contesting as an Independent.

Zira had won the Vidhan Sabha polls in 2017, but lost in 2022, finishing third in Zira Assembly constituency. Sitting Congress MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjeet Singh’s son Rana Inder Partap Singh, who had won as an Independent from Sultanpur Lodhi in 2022 Assembly polls, was one of the leading contenders from the seat. Sitting Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill had opted out of the contest, saying he would focus on state politics.

In Anandpur Sahib where Singla will contest as Congress candidate, AAP has fielded party spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang and Akali Dal has declared former Lok Sabha MP Prem Singh Chandumajra as candidate. BJP is yet to announce candidate for Anandpur Sahib.

Singla originally hails from Sangrur. The Congress wanted a Hindu face and picked Singla over local leader and former Speaker Rana K P Singh. A senior Congress leader said party chose to field a “baniya” candidate and hence Singla was fielded from Anandpur Sahib.