CHANDIGARH: The Congress in Punjab is in a dilemma. It has not come to a conclusion on the Hindu faces for at least three Lok Sabha seats in the state, which has a total of 13 constituencies.
Hindus in the state are not happy with the Congress, say sources inside the party. This is because the party was seen as radical over a sacrilege issue last year. It has also not been able to cash in on the disenchantment over GST. Another worry: The saffron party is now riding on a wave of nationalism after the IAF airstrikes.
While Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar seems certain to contest from Gurdaspur, the party is yet to take a call on Ferozepur, Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur.
The names doing the rounds for Sangrur are former MP from Chandigarh Pawan Kumar Bansal and state PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla. But if the Congress gets into an alliance with the AAP, the sitting MP and Punjab AAP chief Bhagwant Mann will likely be the candidate. In 2014, the party had fielded three Hindus: Ambika Soni from Anandpur Sahib, Sunil Jakhar from Ferozepur and Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur but all of them lost.