Punjab polls: BJP questions Rahul Gandhi’s locus standi to name Cong CM face

PTI, Feb 6, 2022, 3:13 PM IST

The BJP on Sunday questioned the locus standi of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to announce his party’s chief ministerial face for the Punjab Assembly polls, saying he doesn’t hold any position in the party right now. Rahul Gandhi on Sunday arrived in Ludhiana for a virtual rally and he will announce the chief ministerial face of the party. ”Rahul Gandhi does not hold any position in the party so in what capacity and authority will he be announcing the party’s CM candidate today,” Union Minister for Jal Shakti and BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat asked in a statement. While choosing the CM candidate is indeed the party’s prerogative but people of Punjab would like to know what authority Gandhi has in the party right now, other than being one of the 50-odd MPs belonging to the Congress, he said. Shekhawat said Gandhi had resigned as the Congress president in 2019 in the aftermath of the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. His only qualification now is that he possesses the surname “Gandhi” surname, he said.

The union minister also criticised the Congress for excluding from the CM race Sunil Jakhar ”just because he belonged to a particular religion”.

”The Congress party owes an explanation not only to the people of Punjab but the country as a whole, as to why Mr Jakhar was not considered for the CM’s position,” said Shekhawat. Sunil Jakhar had claimed recently that 42 MLAs wanted him to be the chief minister of the state after the unceremonious exit of Amarinder Singh last year. Jakhar could be heard saying this in a video, which had surfaced online, while addressing a gathering in Abohar on Tuesday.