Punjab Election 2022: Congress announces names who will be heading poll affairs in state
Ambika Soni will head the election coordination committee and Sunil Jhakkar will lead the campaign committee, while Ajay Maken will head the screening committee.
FollowSounding the poll bugle for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, the Congress on Monday announced the appointment of former state chief Sunil Jakhar the head of the campaign panel in the state and naming veteran leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ambika Soni as chairperson of the election coordination committee. Party president Sonia Gandhi signalled the Congress readiness for the elections, announcing four election panels—coordination committee, campaign committee, manifesto committee and screening committee today.
Gandhi has also appointed AICC general secretary for Rajasthan Ajay Maken the chairperson of the party’s screening committee for the Punjab elections.
Soni will head the election coordination committee while Jhakkar will lead the campaign committee and Bajwa will steer the manifesto committee as a chairperson. Maken will head the screening committee.
The panel will screen prospective candidates and make its recommendations to the party high command. The party's candidates will be finalised by its central election committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi.
The appointments are significant and signal the Congress intention of reaching out to the Hindus—a segment currently seen as distant from the party which has consolidated its Scheduled Caste hold by naming Channi as chief minister when the buzz was favouring a Hindu leader.
Other members of the screening committee will be AICC in-charge Harish Chaudhary, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, campaign committee chairman Sunil Jakhar, and AICC secretaries for the state.
The Congress hopes to strengthen its presence among the Hindus of Punjab with the Aam Aadmi Party wooing them actively. Punjab, where the Congress is seeking to retain power, will go to assembly polls early next year.
