Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Amid growing clamour within the Punjab Congress over the need to declare a CM face, party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has said that 'people at top want a weak Chief Minister who can dance to their tunes'.
"If a new Punjab has to be made, it is in the hands of the Chief Minister. You (voters) have to choose the CM this time. People at the top want a weak CM who can dance to their tunes. Do you want such a CM," Sidhu said yesterday amid sloganeering by supporters.
Sidhu's remarks came ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's February 6 visit to Ludhiana, where he is likely to announce the chief ministerial face of the party for the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls.
During his last visit on January 27 to Punjab in Jalandhar, Rahul had announced that the Congress will go into the Punjab Assembly elections with a CM face and the decision on it will be taken soon after consulting party workers. Rahul said that Channi and Sidhu have assured him that whosoever is chosen as the CM face, the other will support him.
Besides taking responses from party leaders and workers, Congress is also seeking the opinion of the public on the CM face through an automated call system. According to news agency ANI, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is leading the survey.
Over the past several weeks, Singh Channi and Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case for themselves to be declared as the party's chief ministerial candidate.
Voting for Punjab's 117 seats will be held in single-phase on February 20. Results will be announced on March 10.
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