FILE - Punjab CM Charanjit Channi visits the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan
Highlights
- Opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded to select CM face, sources said
- This is being done to avoid any feud over the CM face between Channi and Navjot Singh Siddhu
- Party is also calling general public through an automated call system to seek their opinion
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is leading a survey by the Congress party, to choose the chief ministerial candidate for Punjab. Sources have revealed opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded to select the CM face in Punjab, ahead of Assembly elections in the state.
"Opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded so that any feud over the CM face between Channi and Navjot Singh Siddhu can be avoided," said sources.
"Party is also calling general public through an automated call system to seek their opinion on CM face. The target of the party is to call around 1.5 crore people in the next 3 to 4 days," sources said.
Party coordinators are physically reaching out to the block president, district president and all candidates to collect their opinion and hand over to the party soon.
Meanwhile, the party's Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs from Punjab are also being contacted to their feedback on the two leaders in the race for becoming CM face of the party.
"Party is making all these efforts because it is of the opinion the whole process should be transparent and the one who loses in the survey should not oppose the result in any manner," said a senior party member said.
"Both Channi and Sidhu will have to accept the decision of survey as they have agreed for it before Rahul Gandhi," the leader said.
According to sources, in its initial trends, Channi is leading but the party wants to take sufficient time to announce it with proof so that Sidhu's displeasure can be handled.
While the Congress slammed Aam Aadmi Party over its process of choosing Bhagwant Mann as the CM candidate, it said that AAP has asked people to call them to give their opinion while Congress will itself call people asking for their opinion.
"Party has already decided that it would make the event of announcing CM face a big event," senior party leader added.
In the survey, questions are only being asked about Channi and Sidhu. Thus, the party is making it clear that there is no other face in the race.
In this survey of Congress, there are three questions in Punjabi language and they are being asked to give their opinion by pressing the button on the option of their choice on the IVR.
In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party conducted a survey before declaring the CM face and claimed that in the survey, more than 22 lakh people chose Bhagwant Mann as the CM face of Aam Aadmi Party by sending votes, SMS and WhatsApp messages.
(With inputs from ANI)
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