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Punjab polls: Congress again bets on MLA Balbir Sidhu from Mohali
The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 86 candidates, including 58 sitting legislators, for the Punjab polls scheduled on February 14
The Congress has once again reposed faith in Mohali MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, 61, nominating the former minister for the fourth time from the assembly segment represented by him for the past three terms.
The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 86 candidates, including 58 sitting legislators, for the February 14 assembly elections in Punjab. The party is yet to declare names of candidates from the other two assembly segments in Mohali district — Dera Bassi and Kharar — that are represented by the Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party, respectively.
“I am thankful to the party high command for reposing faith in me. I promise them to win the seat and add it to the kitty of the Congress party. I have full faith in the people of Mohali, as we have carried out a number of development works in the past five years, which are for everyone to see,” Sidhu said after his nomination.
Sidhu has won the seat three times in a row since 2007, and after the party formed the government in 2017, he was even awarded a cabinet berth. His clout kept rising under the then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, and he even managed to get his brother, Amarjeet Singh Sidhu, elected as the Mohali mayor.
However, when Charanjit Singh Channi became the chief minister, Sidhu — who was the health minister and was leading Punjab’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic — was dropped from the state cabinet. Later, the two decided to patch up, as Channi promised to field him from Mohali again. Even Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu visited the former minister’s house and termed him the most important leader of the party in the state.
As for the other parties, the AAP was the first to declare former mayor and real estate baron Kulwant Singh as its candidate from Mohali, while the SAD named former Labourfed chairman Parvinder Singh Sohana on Saturday. The BJP is yet to announce its nominee. In the municipal elections held in 2021, the Congress won 37 of 50 seats, the Azad group led by Kulwant Singh got 11 seats, and both the BJP and SAD drew a blank.
