Cong to announce CM face in Punjab after consulting party workers: Rahul
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Jan, 2022 01:24 PM
Chandigarh, Jan 27 (IANS) Indicating that the Congress will go into the Punjab polls with a CM face in place, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday categorically said that it will announce a chief ministerial candidate after consulting the party workers.
Both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have urged Rahul Gandhi to announce a CM face well ahead of the polls, instead of going with the collective leadership.
"Both (Channi and Sidhu) have assured me that they will help whoever is named as the CM face," said Rahul Gandhi, who kickstarted Congress' election campaign in Punjab on Thursday after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
At the same time, he said that there should be a dedicated manifesto for the women of Punjab.
Flanked by Chief Minister Channi and Sidhu, Rahul also paid obeisance at the Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki temple in Amritsar.
After partaking 'Langar' with Sidhu and Channi at the Golden Temple, Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with the party candidates with the message 'Navi Soch, Nava Punjab'.
Later, the Congress leader started the campaign by addressing a virtual rally from Jalandhar.
The Congress has so far fielded 109 candidates for the 117-member Punjab Assembly that will go to the polls on February 20. The names of the remaining candidates are yet to be announced.
The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
Reacting to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha's criticism of the remarks he had made on Monday in this regard, he lamented that despite his government's unequivocal support to their cause, the farmers had misinterpreted his appeal and had, instead, tried to link it with the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.
Sample this. According to the All India Rice Exporters' Association, in 2018-19 India exported 951 tonnes but the figure shot up in 2020-21 to touch 33,1571 tonnes.
A fire department officer said that a three-story residential building opposite to Robin cinema in Ghanta Ghar Sabzi Mandi near Malka Ganj in Delhi collapsed and the department received a call regarding it at 12 noon. As soon as the fire department received a call, seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot for rescue operations.
Calling the Congress as the only party who protested against these 'black' laws from the very first day, the Chief Minister said his government called an all-party meeting and then held consultations with farm unions.
The highly specialised medical services to be rolled out across the state by end November will prove to be a boon for people, especially the poor for whom expert private sector medical care is out of reach, he said.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.