AICC announces election committee for poll-bound Punjab

A 34-member Election Committee for Punjab headed by state party chief Amarinder Singh apparently balancing all factions in the state was announced by the AICC today ahead of high-stakes assembly polls.
The state election committee recommends to the party high command the names of candidates for finalisation by the central election committee.
Congress also announced another 17-member manifesto committee chaired by former deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
Manpreet Singh Badal, the estranged nephew of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who merged his outfit PPP with Congress sometime ago, will co-chair the manifesto committee and also head the four-member manifesto drafting committee.

"Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has approved the Punjab Pradesh Congress Election Committee, Manifesto Committee and Manifesto Drafting Committee for Punjab assembly elections 2017," AICC general Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.
The 34-member all-important election panel includes CLP leader Charanjit Singh Channi, state's campaign committee chief Ambika Soni, former CLP leader Sunil Jakhar and former deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, besides former PCC chiefs Pratap Singh Bajwa, H S Hanspal, Shamsher Singh Dullo, Virender Kataria, Mohinder Singh Kaypee.

The panel also includes senior vice president Lal Singh and party MPs Ravneet Singh Bittu and Ch Santokh Singh, besides former Union ministers Preneet Kaur and Manish Tewari.

Indian Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and presidents of state Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, NSUI and Seva Dal are also members of this committee.
The Manifesto Committee is headed by Bhattal and co-chaired by Manpreet Badal, with many other members including former Amritsar mayor Om Prakash Soni.
Four-member Manifesto Drafting Committee, headed by Badal, will include senior leaders Amar Singh, Ashok Gupta and Dilbar Mohd Khan.
Congress has been in political wilderness in Punjab for a decade and is seeking to wrest back power from the ruling Akali-BJP combine in Assembly elections slated early next year.
While Congress has launched a vigorous campaign to reach out to every section of society, new entrant AAP is giving a good fight to it.

The party has also hired poll strategist Prashant Kishore for steering its campaign. Kishore had earlier worked for Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar.