Punjab polls: Rahul Gandhi to visit Ludhiana on February 6; likely to announce party’s chief ministerial face

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (file image)

Rahul Gandhi will address a virtual rally in Ludhiana on February 6 amid speculation that the Congress leader may announce the party’s chief ministerial face for the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls.

Gandhi will address a virtual rally in Ludhiana on February 6, Congress sources said.

During his last visit to Punjab on January 27, Gandhi had announced that the Congress will announce the name of its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming election and a decision on it will be taken soon after consulting the party workers.

Besides taking the feedback from party leaders and workers, the Congress is also seeking the opinion of the public on who should it be its chief ministerial face through an automated call system.

For the last several weeks, both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case for themselves to be declared as the party’s candidate for the top post.

Addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar last week, Gandhi had said Channi and Sidhu have assured him that whosoever is chosen as the party’s chief ministerial face, the other will support him.

He had made the statement after Sidhu demanded at the rally that the party declare its chief ministerial face for the Punjab polls and said he does not want to be a "showpiece”.

Channi had then said he was never after any post and would wholeheartedly back the party’s candidate for the top post.

Channi replaced Amarinder Singh as the chief minister in September last year.

He is the first Scheduled Caste (SC) chief minister of Punjab.