As Punjab heads to the polls in February, Congress party which has been roiled by internal strife may announce a chief ministerial candidate before polling begins. Rahul Gandhi made the announcement, and said the state’s chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress President of Punjab Navjot Sidhu along with other Congress workers felt the party would benefit with a face to lead the campaign going into the assembly elections. Congress has been roiled by months of infighting with incumbent chief minister Amarinder Singh leaving the party after he was asked to step down with a majority of his MLAs rebelling against him. This has been followed by a power struggle between Charanjit Channi, who took over from Amarinder Singh, and Navjot Sidhu who had led the rebellion against the former chief minister. Rahul Gandhi’s announcement comes at a time when Aam Aadmi Party has announced Bhagwat Mann as its face in the state after a ‘public poll’.
