AAP a step ahead of Punjab rivals with early poll list

New Delhi: With Punjab headed for a keenly-contested triangular Assembly elections, for the first time between Akali Dal-BJP combine, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, the political groupings — except AAP — will have to act fast to finalise their list of candidates.

According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday, Punjab goes to polls on February 4, which gives major players like the Congress party and Akali-BJP much less time to release its entire list for 117 Assembly segments.

While the Congress is yet to finalise candidates for 40 seats, the BJP has not announced even a single candidate for 23 segments and Akalis have declared candidates for only 84 of the 94 Assembly seats. So far, AAP seems to enjoy an early mover advantage as it declared its first list way back in August 2016 itself.

Even senior local Congress leaders admit that the delay in finalising the candidates could affect the party’s prospects during the elections as it will give them little time for campaigning in one of the most fiercely contested Assembly elections.

One of the reasons for delay in releasing the list of candidates with the Congress is sharp differences in its the state unit on accommodating rebel leaders from Akali and AAP, who have switched sides. With the Congress hoping to come to power in the state after 10 years, many local leaders are strongly opposed to “outsiders” being given tickets.

Similarly, the BJP, a smaller player in coalition with SAD, has not yet finalised its list of 23 candidates. The BJP normally contests from urban areas and may announce its list in a few days. The SAD, sources added, is also monitoring developments in Congress, hoping that some of its rebel leaders might return to the party fold so they can be accommodated among the 10 remaining candidates.

“In such a crucial election, the Congress should have got its act together and finalised its list much earlier. A delay may prove costly for it, as the BJP does not have much stake in Punjab. The Congress must announce the remaining 40 candidates this week,” said Tanmesh Sharma, a former political science lecturer at DAV College, Jalandhar.

“Even during the 2012 polls, the Congress was late in announcing its candidates, and we all know what happened — for the first time in the Punjab’s electoral history, Akali-BJP were able to retain power,” a senior Punjab Congress leader said.

Besides, the Congress party is yet to finalise on future of former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. While the former cricketer’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who has formally joined the party, is expected to contest from Amritsar East, it is believed her husband wants ticket for the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, a seat vacated by the state Congress chief and chief ministerial candidate Capt. Amrinder Singh. However, local Congress leaders feel that only one of them should be given a ticket from Amritsar.