AMARINDER TO CONTEST FROM PATIALA
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said he will contest once again from his home constituency of Patiala and ruled out any challenge from the Congress or any of the other parties in the fray, saying none of the CM faces or prospective CM candidates had the mental acumen to think Punjab’s future. The Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) leader, in an interview to a TV channel, lambasted chief minister Charanjeet Singh Channi and PCC President Navjot Sidhu wondering what Congress leadership saw in them . As for AAP’s CM nominee Bhagwant Mann, the PLC chief labeled him an out-and-out comedian, which Punjab, with its 600 kms long border with Pakistan, definitely did not need. Amarinder further said the Badals and their Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), who were responsible for the 2015 sacrilege cases as well as Punjab’s drug and mafia menace, were also not suitable for the state. It was he, as chief minister, who had successfully brought the sacrilege cases to the courts despite the hurdles and delays in getting them back from the CBI, he added. The former CM ruled out any post-poll tie-up with either Congress or AAP, saying the PLC had a clear alliance with BJP and SAD (Sanyukt), which will definitely win the elections. The three parties were working on a common minimum programme for the state, which will secure Punjab’s and its people’s future, he said, adding that the CM face of the alliance was yet to be decided. Hoping that the Election Commission would soon relax the Covid restrictions, he said he will go to each of the 117 constituencies to take his message to the people and seek votes on the basis of his own achievements as chief minister as well as the Modi government’s accomplishments at the national level.
BHAGWANT MANN CHALLENGES CHANNI
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Punjab President and chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann hit back at Chief Minister Channi's challenge to AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal to contest from Chamkaur Sahib and challenged Channi to contest against him from Dhuri. Addressing the media in Amritsar on Saturday, Mann said that perhaps Chief Minister Channi does not know that Chamkaur Sahib Assembly seat is a reserved seat. Neither I nor our national convener Arvind Kejriwal can contest from there. If Chief Minister Channi has confidence, then he should come to Dhuri and contest against me. Mann said that he (Channi) is welcomed there. The people of Dhuri will have the final say.
ECI launches ‘Know Your Candidate' app
After making it mandatory for political parties to publish why candidates with criminal record were selected for election, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a mobile application 'Know Your Candidate' for electors to know the particulars and criminal antecedents of any candidate, S Karuna Raju, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, said on Saturday. Urging the voters of the state to download the app, the CEO said that the app has been developed to provide wide publicity and greater awareness regarding criminal antecedents of contesting candidates to ensure transparent election. This app can be downloaded from Google play store and Apple App store and the link is also available on the Commission's website. Directing the Returning Officers to ensure that the right document is uploaded on the app, the CEO asked them to select the checkbox 'Yes' or 'No' for Candidate Criminal Antecedent and upload the scanned document submitted by candidate in Encore offline nomination. Criminal antecedents as the same gets public visibility through KYC (Know Your Candidate) App. Returning Officer also needs to re-verify and ensure that the checkbox is marked appropriately as "Yes" or "No" as per the details submitted by the candidate.
