Chandigarh, March 22 (IANS) Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said that he was ready for the high-profile battle Saturday, a day after he was announced as the Congress candidate to take on senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.
Indicating that he had overcome his initial reluctance, which he openly stated Thursday, Amarinder said that he was ready to fight it out against Jaitley and ensure a Congress victory in Amritsar.
"I was reluctant earlier but now that my name has been announced, I am ready for the fight," Amarinder said here.
The Amritsar seat goes to polls April 30 along with 12 other Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dumped its sitting MP, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, and fielded Jaitley from the Amritsar seat. Sidhu hads won the seat in 2004, 2007 (by-election) and 2009 for the BJP.
Before Sidhu, Amritsar was represented by seven-time Congress MP Raghunandan Lal Bhatia. Sidhu defeated him in 2004.
The former Punjab chief minister 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 Sonia asked him to do so, Amarinder agreed, party insiders said.
Congress activists and supporters went into celebration mode in Amritsar after Amarinder's name was announced for the seat.
Sonia Gandhi bats for son Rahul
Amethi (Uttar Pradesh), April 19 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday tried to strike an emotional chord here at a public rally and told the gathering that she had given her son Rahul
Trinamool no different from predecessor: Rahul
Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), March 25 (IANS) Observing that West Bengal has not progressed as desired, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday attacked the Mamata Banerjee government in the
HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: Himachal Board 10th result will come by this date, will be able to check like this
HPBOSE 10th Result 2022: Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) will announce the result of class 10th conducted in the state soon. After this thousands of students of the state who are
China's GDP figures surfaced, growth in economy despite Corona epidemic
The latest GDP figures show that only one of the largest economies in the world has registered a growth in the year 2020.
Swati Maliwal Case: The Court sent Bibhav to 14 days of judicial custody for, a case of assault on Swati Maliwal
The Tis Hazari court on Friday sent Chief Minister's aide Bibhav Kumar to 14-day judicial custody in the alleged attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal. Kumar was produced before the court
Farmer Protest: 'Why are new demands being put forward again and again', Anurag Thakur said on farmers' protest
To stop the march of farmers to Delhi, the issue of guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) of crops got stuck in the marathon meeting between the central government and farmer leaders. All the
Jasmin Walia-Hardik: Why did the discussions about Hardik-Jasmin's love start after the IPL match? Know the whole story.
The news of the affair between Indian cricket star Hardik Pandya and British singer Jasmine Walia has been in the news for a long time. Both have been seen together many times. However, no reaction
JD-U expels Manjhi
Patna, Feb 9 (IANS) Bihar's ruling JD-U Monday expelled Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi from the party for six years, chief whip Shrawan Kumar said."(JD-U national president) Sharad Yadav has
PM Modi shaped the global agenda through foreign visits, deepened relations with partner countries
The Central Government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that a little over Rs 239 crore has been spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits during the last five years. Minister of
EXCLUSIVE: From early days to the question of The Family Man 3, know what Manoj Bajpayee said
Bollywood's best actor Manoj Bajpayee is in a lot of headlines these days for the web series 'The Family Man 2'. While the series is winning the hearts of the audience, Manoj Bajpayee, who became