Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal today said it was AICC President Sonia Gandhi's prerogative to project or decide as to who would be the chief ministerial candidate in 2017 Assembly elections.
Talking to reporters here, she was replying to a query as to who would be projected as the next chief ministerial candidate by the Congress party in Punjab.
"It is the prerogative of party high command, especially party chief Sonia Gandhi, to project or decide as to who will be the next chief ministerial candidate," she said.
She claimed that party candidates will be announced much before the elections.
"Our topmost priority is to win 2017 elections which we will do with a big margin," she claimed.
She said that tickets will be given both to the experienced and young candidates to strike a balance.
She claimed that AAP had no existence or future in Punjab.
"People have got disillusioned with AAP as it had miserably failed to deliver in Delhi",she said.
"People have fully realized that only Congress could safeguard their interests and voters were raring to elect the party to power by throwing out misrule of SAD-BJP",she said.
She said that Congress will form a 'Mahagathbandhan'(Grand alliance) in Punjab by having electoral truck with like-minded parties like BSP,CPI,CPM.
She claimed that party was in touch with these parties.
"However, final decision about the alliance will be in the hands of the party high command", she said.
She claimed that SAD-BJP leadership was "greatly unnerved" by the elevation of Captain Amarinder Singh to the post of PPCC Presidentship.
"Captain knows how to deal with Akalis and that is why they are quite rattled with his becoming PPCC chief",she said.
