'Stay Tuned', Says Punjab Congress with Sidhu-Channi Video as Hunt for CM Face Gathers Steam

Even as a tweet by the Punjab Congress generated buzz in political circles about who will become the party’s chief ministerial candidate, the hunt for the face who will lead the party’s campaign in the poll-bound state has been unleashed online.

The process also has a pre-recorded voice message pushed through interactive voice response system (IVRS) to the mobile phone numbers of voters across the state. Punjab goes to polls on February 20, and will vote in a single phase.

The Punjab Congress on Wednesday morning tweeted a video showing both Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu during their campaign trail with the caption, “Stay tuned… 7 pm today!! Punjab Di Chadhdi Kala Congress Mange Sarbat Da Bhala”.

With speculation rife in party circles, the Congress has also been conducting a survey taking feedback from workers and voters before it names the CM candidate. The party has been sending pre-recorded messages through IVRS, taking feedback from its own candidates, coordinators and survey teams in all 117 assembly segments.

Party leaders have demanded that it should go into the polls with a CM face to avoid confusion. With incumbent CM Channi and Sidhu both staking a claim for the position, even in front of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, leaders have urged the high command to announce a name.

“With the AAP having announced a CM face and Akali Dal too campaigning under Sukhbir Singh Badal, it becomes all the more necessary for the party to go into the elections with a definitive face,” said a senior party leader. Party insiders said through the IVRS, voters were being given three choices – Channi, Sidhu and a third option that the party goes without projecting a CM face.

Senior state Congress leaders said the process had begun after Gandhi announced, at a virtual rally in Jalandhar, that the party would soon declare a CM face. To ensure that the outreach was maximum, the party will be reaching out to nearly four lakh party workers, including coordinators and district incharges at the block level.

There is also buzz that the name will possibly be announced by Gandhi during his visit to the Malwa region this week.

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