Chandigarh, Feb 3 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to announce the chief minister's face in his virtual address from Ludhiana city in Punjab on February 6, sources said on Thursday.
This will be his second visit to the state in less than a week.
In his previous visit, Rahul Gandhi had assured workers that the party will decide CM candidate well ahead of the February 20 polling.
With his assurance a power struggle is on between party state President Navjot Sidhu and Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit Chief Minister of a state that is home to 32 per cent Scheduled Caste population, the country's largest, to be the chief ministerial candidate.
Currently, voters have been getting tele-calls to give their opinion as to who should nominate the Congress as its chief ministerial candidate.
In the fray for 117 seats in Punjab are three prominent parties -- the ruling Congress, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, and two alliances -- the SAD-BSP and the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress.
Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Two sisters, aged 38 and 40, told police that the accused confined one of them in a room for four days. The technician's friend also allegedly raped one of the victims.
The deceased were identified as Rinki Kumari, Karisma Kumari, Lado Kumari and their aunt Sonam Devi. All of them were residents of Baratandi village. Another minor girl named Vibha Kumari is battling for her life in RIMS Pawapuri.
The BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not allowed a single terrorist act to take place except for a few incidents at the border. The policy is zero tolerance to terrorism. The government has never let down the morale of soldiers and armed forces in the last 7 years, Joshi explained.
Addressing the media here to launch the party's campaign 'Gall Punjab Di', the SAD chief said he would hold 700 public meetings and address each and every section of the society during his 100-day yatra during the course of which SAD workers would go to each and every village and ward in the state.
Amidst the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the Indian government decided to recall all embassy personnel from Kabul and they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft on Tuesday. The IAF aircraft brought back 120 Indian officials, including the last batch of the Indian embassy staff and ITBP personnel, from the Kabul airport.
Newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday appointed Jalandhar Cantt MLA and his close confidant Pargat Singh as the new general secretary of Punjab Congress ahead of the Assembly elections in the state scheduled next year.
