The reluctant Congress high command on Thursday cleared the names of former Union Minister Manish Tewari from Sri Anandpur Sahib and former MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency for May 19 elections, putting on hold its candidates for the hot-seats of Bathinda and Ferozepur.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been backing the names of the two leaders while the party high command, including Congress national president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary KC Venugopal, had reportedly raised objections over their names.

Till the filing of this report, the official announcement of their names is yet to be made.

The decision was taken during the nearly half-an-hour long meeting of party’s central screening committee in the national capital attended by Capt Amarinder, state Congress president Sunil Jakhar, and state party affairs’ in-charge Asha Kumari to decide its candidates for four seats of Bathinda, Ferozepur, Sangur, and Sri Anandpur Sahib.

The State leadership has sent the single name panel of Manish Tewari for Sri Anandpur Sahib seat, for which the party high command had objected to, and the name of Punjab Youth Congress president Amarpreet Lally, backed by former Union Minister Ambika Soni, was discussed during the previous meeting.

To balance the caste equations, the party decided to go ahead with Tewari’s candidature for what it considered as Hindu-dominated seat. However, most of the political parties have considered Sri Anandpur Sahib as a Sikh dominated panthic seat, as one of the Sikhs’ temporal seat — Takht Keshgarh Sahib — is situated here.

It has been learnt that Capt Amarinder and Asha Kumari has backed Tewari’s name for the Hindu-dominated seat, which, after reluctance, accepted by the party high command.

Soni, who has a stronghold over the constituency, has recommended a youth face for Sri Anandpur Sahib, with the names of Lally, party’s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill, and Yadwinder Singh Kang — son of former Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang — were under consideration.

Rahul Gandhi was not inclined to give ticket to Tewari, who backed out from the electoral contest in 2014 elections despite being the sitting MP from Ludhiana and Union Minister.

He would not face SAD’s sitting MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, SAD (Taksalis) candidate Bir Devinder Singh, who has been former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Aam Aadmi Party’s Narinder Shergill, and Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate and international Polo player Vikram Singh Sodhi.

For Sangrur too, Chief Minister’s choice prevailed over others. As Capt Amarinder was backing for Dhillon’s name, the central unit’s surveys indicated him as a “weak” candidate. The central committee has pressed for fielding Cabinet Minister and former MP Vijay Inder Singla for Sangrur.

For Bathinda and Ferozepur, the party is waiting for SAD to lay its cards first. While SAD is expected to retain Harsimrat Badal from Bathinda, reports are that party president Sukhbir Badal may himself enter the poll fray from Ferozepur.

Capt Amarinder is backing the candidature of his confidant and Cabinet Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi from Ferozepur, while party is yet to zero in on one name for Bathinda.