Punjab polls: Sidhu, Mann among 317 file nomination papers on Day 4
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and his AAP counterpart and CM face Bhagwant Mann were among 317 people who filed their nominations for Punjab polls on Saturday
Chandigarh/Amritsar/Sangrur Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) counterpart and chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann were among 317 people who filed their nominations for the state assembly elections on Saturday, taking the total to 619 in four days.
Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Pargat Singh were among other prominent Congress faces who filed the papers on Saturday. While Manpreet is in the fray from Bathinda Urban, former Indian hockey captain Pargat is contesting from Jalandhar Cantonment.
The nomination process, which began on January 25, will culminate on February 1. No papers were filed on Republic Day and there will be a holiday on Sunday as well.
MP Bhagwant Mann filed his nomination papers from Dhuri segment in Sangrur, the constituency represented by him in Lok Sabha.
Accompanied by his mother, Harpal Kaur, Mann said: “People of Dhuri have always blessed and supported me. They will again shower me with the same love and support. I hope people will vote to form the AAP government in Punjab.”
Dalvir Singh Goldy, the sitting Congress MLA from Dhuri, also filed his nomination papers on Saturday. Goldy said voters of the segment will send him to the assembly with a margin bigger than the previous elections. He was accompanied by his parents and wife.
Sidhu dares Majithia to contest from Amritsar East alone
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu slammed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia after filing nomination papers from Amritsar East.
Majithia is contesting the elections from his bête noire Sidhu’s stronghold besides his own home turf Majitha.
“If he (Majithia) is so confident of his victory and has courage, why doesn’t he leave Majitha and contest the polls from Amritsar East alone? They left no stone unturned to implicate me in false cases. They hatched conspiracies against me in the case of Amritsar train tragedy,” said Sidhu while interacting with media.
Stating that truth is always suppressed but can never be defeated, the former Amritsar MP said: “This is happening from the beginning. My life is a struggle for truth and ethics... Sidhu has a political career of 17 years. Everything is in front of the people. Do I need to produce any proof about my integrity during this period? Sidhu never got false cases registered against the people in the city. He did not loot Punjab nor he used muscle power against power.”