Controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Mussewala, who joined the Congress sometime ago will contest from Mansa and actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood from Moga.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party's first-timer and an eye surgeon from Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib seats, respectively.
Gandhi is seeking responses from Congress leaders and workers through the party's Shakti app, sources said. The opinion of common people on the issue will also be sought in a day or two.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded two Congress turncoats and its former Union minister Vijay Sampla for next month's Punjab assembly polls as it released its second list of 27 candidates on Thursday.
The Congress fielded Channi from two seats -- Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar and Bhadaur in Barnala, a move which showed how much the Congress was banking on him. He lost both, and the party received a drubbing from the AAP.
The party has fielded Dr Charanjit Singh from Sri Chamkaur Sahib against Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
The Congress also fielded former Patiala mayor Vishnu Sharma from the Patiala assembly seats against its former leader Amarinder Singh.
The Congress is likely to declare its chief ministerial face for Punjab on February 6 when former party chief Rahul Gandhi will visit the poll-bound state, party sources said.
Apart from Chamkaur Sahib assembly seat which comes in Maajha region of Punjab, Congress is all set to field CM Channi from Adampur assembly constituency which falls in the Doaba Region.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said he would file a defamation case against Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejirwal, who has dubbed him as a dishonest man after the Enforcement Directorate carried out raids at many places, including at the premises of the Congress leader's nephew.
A social activist, a young law graduate, a debutante, and an eye surgeon -- Punjab polls gave gave birth to a number of giant killers from the Aam Aadmi Party, who drubbed such stalwarts as Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Badals, and even Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Sidhu in a press conference on Friday had questioned the Channi-led state government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in the cases of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and drug trafficking.
Donning a flowing white chola' and a navy blue turban and often escorted by armed supporters, radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh has been quite active in Punjab for some time.
Not only chemists, but several known private hospitals are selling medicines at higher prices than MRP, said Singh, adding that the matter was not peculiar to Punjab, but afflicts the whole country.
The game intensified after Congress fielded Channi from a second seat and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia chose to take on Sidhu from the Amritsar East seat.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
The five-state assembly poll results announced on Thursday brought gloom for several political heavyweights, including two current and five former chief ministers, who lost the electoral battle from their respective seats.
He had along with three other ministers rebelled against Amarinder Singh while choosing to side with the camp of state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Carrying swords and other arms, scores of supporters led by Singh had assembled at the police station in Ajnala in Amritsar. They broke the barricades put up by police.
Channi slammed the AAP government over his date of appearance date being advanced and alleged it was part of the dispensation's "vendetta politics".
Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be two deputies to Punjab's Chief Minister-designate Charanjit Singh Channi, said party leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Radical preacher Amritpal Singh's aide and kidnapping accused Lovepreet Singh walked out of a jail in Amritsar on Friday, hours after a court in Ajnala ordered his release based on an application by the police.
'Politics is in a mess. Good people have to join to clean it up.'
Despite giving an assurance of a peaceful demonstration, the protesters used sharp-edged weapons, the police said.
"Opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded to so that any feud over the CM face between Channi and Navjot Singh Siddhu can be avoided," said sources.
Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes.
In the first case, the arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey was arrested in this case by the agency.
The CM's statement came on a day state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu once again sought the replacement of Punjab's police chief and advocate general.
'This incident is likely to embolden the radicals as also the sleeper cells of terrorists and their masters hiding abroad, including Pakistan.'
For the last several weeks, both Channi and Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case to be declared as the party's nominee for the top post.
Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann too questioned separately Gandhi's description of Channi as belonging to 'gareeb ghar', asking 'from which angle, is he poor'.
Nothing exemplifies this Sikh khundak (revenge) better than the fact that all the tallest names in the state lost their election to novices fielded by AAP.
With its landslide victory in Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has achieved a major milestone in its journey so far and emerged as an alternative in the national politics.
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dalit to hold the top post in the state.
The incumbent Congress could win only 18 seats, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi losing both seats he contested -- Chamkaur Sahib as well as Bhadaur.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
Punjab faces many mortal threats. For most of these the people of Punjab are themselves responsible. And unless they take a brutal hard look within, their future generations have to be resigned to continue living with this constant slide, warns Shekhar Gupta.
'The distrust of traditional political parties in Punjab is an advantage for AAP.'
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