Congress may rope in Harbhajan Singh for Punjab poll campaign

New Delhi: The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to extend its electoral base in Punjab before the Assembly elections next year. In the last couple of weeks, the Congress has smelt blood in the state and if all goes according to plans the Congress has solid chances of forming a government in the state.

Now, the Congress is also mulling to rope in former cricketer Harbhajan Singh to campaign for the party in the state polls. There were reports earlier that he might even contest on a Congress ticket from Punjab but he has denied all such reports.

Earlier on Tuesday, Navjot Singh Sidhu met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi amid speculation that the cricketer-turned politician would join the Congress sooner than later.

The Congress has played a masterstroke in snatching cricketer turn politician Navjot Singh Sidhu from both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party. His wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu and former hockey player Pargat Singh have already joined the Congress.

Mr Sidhu’s meeting with Mr Gandhi, which lasted for over 30 minutes, had come at a time when the Congress has finalised half of its candidates for the coming state polls.

Mr Sidhu’s entry into Congress has been speculated for a long time now. He was earlier in talks with AAP but it did not materialise leading to a split in his recently formed outfit Awaaz-e-Punjab.

The Punjab Congress has also requested Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in the state. A decision in this regard has not been taken by the Congress leadership yet. Three meetings of the central election committee of the Congress, headed by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, have taken place to decide on the candidates. Till now, the Congress has declared 61 candidates and the rest will be announced in the next few days.

The Punjab Congress feels that its time to gear up with just over a month left for elections in the state. If Harbhajan Singh is also roped in for campaigning it will definitely add up to its star power