Congress eyeing to win 10 seats in Punjab, may field Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, March 12: The Congress Party is eyeing to win Punjab's 10 seats out of 13 in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

As per the 2019 Lok Sabha election schedule announced on Sunday, Punjab will vote on May 19 in the seventh phase.

Punjab is one of the states where the Congress is ruling, and the party wants to add seven seats in its tally of 2014. 

1n 2014, the Congress had won three seats in Punjab that were five seats short than the 2009 Lok Sabha election results. 

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections were held at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) were heading the state government. 

"Since the Congress government is in Punjab, the party is expecting to win at least 10 seats. It also aims to snatch seats from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)," a source told One India. 

It is notable that the presence of AAP in 2014 had dented the Congress very badly. It had snatched Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, and Patiala Lok Sabha seats from the Congress. 

The Congress wants to settle the score by winning all the three seats that it lost in 2014. 

Punjab Congress leaders are not leaving any stone unturned to win as many seats as possible in Punjab. 

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is learned to be demanding that former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan should contest elections from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, which the party is considering as a 'secure' seat. 

Captain Amarinder Singh had won from Amritsar at a time when there was Modi wave in 2014. The party also won Amritsar bye-election that was necessitated due to the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh after he became Punjab Chief Minister. 

Sources, however, say that Dr. Singh is not keen to contest due to health reasons. 

"Party President Rahul Gandhi will decide about former prime minister's candidature," said sources. 

It is notable that Dr. Singh has contested only one Lok Sabha election in 1999 from South Delhi, but had lost. 

He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1991 and re-elected in 1995, 2001, 2007, and 2013. 

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If Dr. Singh agrees to contest from Amritsar then the party will have to compensate current Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla. 

The two other sitting Congress Lok Saba members- Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu- are likely to be fielded from their seats only. 

According to the sources, Preneet Kaur, wife of Captain Amarinder Singh, from Patiala, and young Jaiveer Shergill are likely to contest from Anandpur Sahib.