The Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has finalised its candidates for the forthcoming Punjab Assembly elections 2022. The meeting took place on Thursday via video conferencing. Interestingly, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi may contest from two seats. Currently, Channi represents the Chamkaur Sahib seat in Punjab Assembly.

“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 where a large number of seats have a chunk of Dalit votes who are a deciding factor in the region. Along with that, it will not be a surprise to see sitting MPs as candidates for Assembly polls,” a source told news agency ANI.

According to the agency report, the Congress party has finalized more than 70 candidates for the Punjab elections 2022. Most of the Congress candidates for Punjab Assembly elections 2022 are sitting MLAs. The first list of Congress candidates for Punjab polls 2022 will be announced on Friday after yet another round of the CEC meeting, officials said.

Punjab to face ballot in a single phase on February 14

Channi is likely to be fielded from two Assembly seats from two different regions, it is learnt. The Congress party is seeking another term in Punjab. The term of the current Punjab Assembly ends in March. Elections for Punjab Assembly are scheduled to take place in a single phase on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

In the Punjab Assembly elections 2017, the Congress party came to power by winning 77 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the second-largest party in Punjab, winning 20 of the 117 seats in the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to bag just three seats, the SAD won 15.