Even as former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh awaits the registration of his party Punjab Lok Congress by the Election Commission of India, the process for identifying potential leaders who could cross over to his camp has begun. Sources said though Captain Amarinder is expected to begin his political rallies once the registration process has been completed, behind the scenes he and his trusted aides have begun working on the strategy to rope in prominent leaders, farmers and citizens for the new outfit. Sources close to the former CM revealed that though he would like to create a party with fresh faces, he did not rule out including disgruntled elements from other parties, particularly the Punjab Congress.
Sources said that Captain Amarinder was waiting for the finalisation of candidates in the Congress for the assembly polls next year, hoping that ‘groupism’ and ‘heartburn’ triggered by the ticket distribution would see a significant number of leaders switching over to his side. “What we expect is a lot of infighting once the tickets have been allocated. Some popular and senior leaders are expected to get the axe. Once there is clarity on who gets the axe, the former chief minister would try to get some on his side,” said a source.
Reliable sources in the Congress admitted that the party was treading cautiously while finalising the list of candidates. “This is the reason why there have been delays. With Captain floating his own front, new dynamics will be in play. The disgruntled elements would get an option other than parties like AAP and SAD,” commented a leader.
Already, the dropping of some senior ministers from chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s cabinet has caused lots of “disquiet” within the party, but these leaders were awaiting the final list of candidates before deciding on their next move, sources said. “These senior disgruntled leaders are waiting and watching. Once the list is finalised, they could make a jump to the other side” a leader admitted.
Meanwhile, even before the ticket distribution is finalised, sources said that Captain Amarinder’s camp has started throwing feelers to senior Congress leaders, hoping to get them on board before his party is registered by the Election Commission. “Not just leaders from the Congress, even farmer leaders who are presently busy with the protest against the Centre’s farm laws are being spoken to by the Captain camp. Those like-minded people will be welcome to get on board to give more weight to the new outfit,” said sources.
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