No active campaign by PM's kin in Punjab polls

Amritsar, Jan 28 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's relatives will canvass for Congress candidates in Punjab but will not take active part in electioneering.

''We will vote and support Congress candidates in our constituency, but will not attend any election rally of the party or share a platform with the party leaders,'' Mr J S Chatha, the Prime Minister brother-in-law told UNI today.

Similar views were expressed by Mr Surjit Singh Kohli, Dr Singh brother. ''We will canvass support for the Congress amongst our relatives and friends, but there is no question of any active participation,'' he said.

He said they would also not take part in any door-to-door campaign for the Congress nominees.

During the election campaign, the relatives of the Prime Minister are likely to remain confined to the city, which is Dr Singh's home town.

When the Congress was in the process of finalising its candidates for the Assembly polls, the PM's brother, had expressed the desire to contest from the Amritsar South Assembly segment, the only constituency of the city which has a sizeable Sikh vote.However, Dr Singh later categorically stated no member of his family would contest the polls in Punjab.

In the run-up to the elections to be held on February 13, the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are expected to address rallies in the state. Dr Singh is expected to address an election rally in the city in the first week of next month.

Besides elections to the 117 assembly constituencies, the Amritsar Parliamentary constituency by-election is also be held. A section of the Punjab Pradesh Congress party had mooted the idea that Dr Singh should contest the by-poll as this constituency had been a Congress stronghold.

However Dr Singh had struck down the State Congress proposal, following which the party announced the candidature of Finance Minister Surinder Singla for this prestigious seat. Mr Singla's rival is cricketer-turned-politician and BJP nominee Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had vacated the seat after his conviction in a road rage case on December 6.

Sidhu was picked by the BJP to re-contest from Amritsar after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A host of senior BJP leaders, including its president Rajnath Singh and former Deputy PM L K Advani, besides Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Prakash Singh Badal, will campaign for Sidhu as well as other nominees of the SAD-BJP combine.

The BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley, who is in charge of the BJP campaign in the state, yesterday addressed a rally in the city.

So far, no central leader of the Congress has entered the political arena in Punjab.

UNI