New Delhi/Chandigarh: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab Assembly elections will be announced on Tuesday. An AAP leader said the party’s campaign to choose the chief ministerial face for the Punjab Assembly elections has received over 22 lakh responses.
On January 13, Kejriwal had appealed to the people of Punjab to name their favorite candidates for the post of Chief Minister. He had also issued a mobile number in this regard. Kejriwal had then said that he wanted to declare AAP MP Bhagwant Mann as the chief ministerial face, but Mann insisted on leaving the decision to the people of Punjab. With this, the ‘AAP’ convener had declared himself out of the race for the chief minister’s post.
“The name of AAP’s chief ministerial candidate in Punjab will be announced at 12 noon on Tuesday,” Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. Later, AAP leader and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema said, “Till 5 pm on January 17, around 22 lakh people expressed their opinion on the party’s number and declared the preferred candidate for the chief minister’s post.
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Meanwhile, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said in Chandigarh that the party has received responses through SMS, voice calls and WhatsApp messages for the chief ministerial face and the party’s IT team is analyzing every call and message. He said that Kejriwal will announce the name of the chief ministerial candidate on Tuesday.
Chadha claimed that in Punjab only AAP will go to the polls with the chief ministerial face. He said that no other party, including the ruling Congress, has declared its chief ministerial candidate in the state. Responding to a question, Chadha said the next list of candidates would be released soon. So far the party has declared the names of 112 candidates.
Polling for 117 assembly seats in Punjab will be held on February 20. Counting of votes will be done on March 10. The Election Commission on Monday accepted the request of political parties to conduct polling in Punjab on February 20 instead of February 14 in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.(agency)