Chandigarh/New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Raising the stakes for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, the Congress Friday announced that former chief minister Amarinder Singh will take on senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley from the April 30 contest for the seat.
Amarinder's name was included in the fifth list of candidates announced by the Congress in New Delhi Friday. The party announced 26 candidates including 21 from West Bengal, two from Punjab, two from Bihar and one from Maharashtra.
The party fielded former West Bengal unit chief Manas Bhuiyan from Ghatal.
The party shifted Purnmasi Ram to Valmiki Nagar in Bihar and replaced him at Gopalganj with Jyoti.
A surprise inclusion was name of party leader Ambika Soni for the Anandpur Sahib seat in Punjab.
Amarinder Singh had Thursday expressed his reluctance to contest the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat but had later added that he would contest if Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked him to. After she asked him to do so, Amarinder agreed, party insiders said.
Congress sources said that Amarinder's declaration as party candidate was a signal from the leadership that the party would not succumb to public statements about reluctance to contest.
They said the party has also indicated that it intends to to field formidable candidates against senior BJP leaders including its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
They said party vice president Rahul Gandhi had signaled that leaders with appeal and strong connect among party workers should contest.
Congress activists and supporters went into celebration mode in Amritsar after Amarinder's name was announced for the seat.
The announcement of Amarinder's name will make Amritsar the most watched contest in Punjab as two heavyweight leaders fight it out.
Jaitley was named by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its candidate last week for the Amritsar seat. Sitting MP, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu was overlooked by the BJP for the seat following serious differences between him and leaders of the Punjab BJP and alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal.
Sidhu had won the seat in 2004, 2007 (by-election) and 2009. In 2004, he had trounced seven-time Congress MP Raghunandan Lal Bhatia.
The Congress was finding it difficult to put up a strong leader from Amritsar against Jaitley. With Amarinder contesting now, things are unlikely to be easy for Jaitley, who is the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and is contesting Lok Sabha poll for the first time.
Amarinder had been reluctant initially.
"Even if I contest and am elected as an MP from Amritsar, I will not be able to do justice with people there as compared to someone who would be local. Besides being an outsider, I don't know Amritsar as much as someone from that area. I will not be able to spend required period of time there," he had said Thursday.
Soni replaces sitting MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, a grandson of former chief minister Beant Singh. Bittu's name had been announced earlier in the first list of Congress candidates.
'If we cannot protect the personal liberty of the citizens...', CJI Chandrachud said amidst the statement of the Law Minister
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju expressed concern on Thursday (December 15) over the delay in getting justice in the country. While advising the Supreme Court, he had said, "Supreme Court should hear
'I had walked alone, Janib-e-Manzil Magar...', what is the meaning of this poetic style of Shashi Tharoor?
Congress President Election News: The last date to file nominations for the Congress President's election is 30 September. Before that, there has been an uproar regarding the election. Former Madhya
US-China: Will America impose sanctions on China as well? Action can be taken if military aid is sent to Russia
After imposing a lot of sanctions on Russia during the Ukraine war, America is now going to tighten the reins on China as well. It has been revealed by quoting American officials and sources that
'BJP and Sangh are spreading rumours about Waqf...', Owaisi got angry after giving the data of lands of Hindu organizations.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi criticized the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill of the Central Government. Along with this, he has also shared the data of land being controlled by Hindu religious
Elon Musk's double success in one day: SpaceX's Dragon capsule returned safely with astronauts, landing in the Atlantic Ocean
SpaceX founder Elon Musk received good news from both space and earth on the same day. On Monday, Musk bought Twitter. On the other hand, SpaceX's Dragon capsule made a safe return to Earth from the
OnePlus 9 Series Launch: OnePlus 9 Series is going to be launched today, know all the details of the launch event here
The wait for OnePlus lovers waiting for the OnePlus 9 series is going to end today. The company can launch Oneplus 9, Oneplus 9 Pro, and Oneplus 9R smartphones under this series today. Apart from
'₹2500 is a lie': 'Holi has arrived, when will the free cylinder come', AAP protested against BJP's promise.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is continuously cornering the BJP government of Delhi over giving free cylinders on Holi. Today, Aam Aadmi Party leaders protested and put up banners at ITO over BJP's promise of
Modi government's big decision for farmers - this year the prices of these fertilizers will not increase, also announced to increase the subsidy
Modi cabinet has taken a big decision for the farmers. The central government has decided not to increase the prices of phosphatic and potashic fertilizers for this year. Along with this, the
Sam Bahadur Day 13 Box Office: Fans' craze for 'Sam Bahadur' is not decreasing, so many notes were printed on the 13th day
Sam Bahadur Day 13 Box Office Collection: Vicky Kaushal's film 'Sam Bahadur' has made a lot of headlines in the past. At present, this movie is still entertaining fans in theatres. Even after 13 days
Modi assures full freedom of faith; meets Christian leaders
New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Coming out unequivocally for the first time against recent attacks on churches and controversial utterances by right-wing fringe elements, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
