Tewari likely from Anandpur Sahib

Chandigarh: Despite the Chandigarh unit of Congress nominating Manish Tewari as one of the three potential candidates for the party ticket from the City Beautiful, the former Union minister is likely to be fielded from a constituency in Punjab.The screening committee for Punjab is currently convening meetings with the high command at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi to finalise the list of candidates. The announcement is expected by April 14.Although Tewari did not fill out the application form, his name was recommended by the Chandigarh unit of the party, alongside four-time MP and former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, and Chandigarh Congress president Harmohinder Singh Lucky, as top contenders for the ticket.The party is likely to re-nominate Tewari from Anandpur Sahib, a seat which he won in 2019 by defeating Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) nominee former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra by a margin of 46,884 votes.Tewari is also in the mix for the Ludhiana constituency following the departure of three-time MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, who left the party to join the BJP. Tewari previously represented Ludhiana in the lower house of Parliament from 2009 to 2014, making him the only non-Sikh candidate to have won the seat. Notably, Hindus make up over 60% of the voters in this constituency. The Ludhiana constituency comprises nine assembly segments, including four urban, two semi-urban, and three rural areas, showcasing a diverse electoral landscape. Additionally, former cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu is also being considered as a potential candidate from this constituency.Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi, who recently joined Congress, is the probable candidate from the Patiala constituency. Dr Gandhi had secured victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election as an AAP candidate, defeating Preneet Kaur from Patiala. A doctor by profession, Dr Gandhi parted ways with AAP in 2016, forming his own political party, Nawan Punjab Party, which he merged with Congress.Despite strong objections from Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, the party is likely to nominate former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Jalandhar, a reserved constituency.In a bid to exert pressure on the party, Vikramjit, son of former Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, recently resigned from his position as the chief whip of Congress in the Punjab assembly. He has been actively opposing Channi’s candidacy in the constituency. Vikramjit’s father, Chaudhary Santokh Singh, passed away during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, resulting in a by-election. Despite his mother, Karamjit Kaur, running as a Congress candidate, she lost to Sushil Rinku of AAP.MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira is being considered as the party’s candidate from Sangrur, the home district of chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The party is expected to nominate Dr Amar Singh again from Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurjeet Singh Aujla from Amritsar. In the 2019 elections, Dr Amar Singh, a retired bureaucrat, secured victory by defeating Darbara Singh Guru of SAD (B) with a substantial margin of 93,571 votes. Similarly, Aujla emerged victorious by defeating Hardeep Puri of the BJP with 444,052 votes, constituting 51.78% of the total votes.A senior leader, privy to the selection process, stated that the list of candidates has been recommended based on feedback received from each constituency. He said the final list will be prepared by the high command in consultation with the state leadership and did not rule out the possibility of changes to the list proposed by the state leadership.