Indicating that the Congress will go into the Punjab polls with a CM face in place, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday categorically said that it will announce a chief ministerial candidate after consulting the party workers.Both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have urged Rahul Gandhi to announce a CM face well ahead of the polls, instead of going with the collective leadership."Both (Channi and Sidhu) have assured me that they will help whoever is named as the CM face," said Rahul Gandhi, who kickstarted Congress' election campaign in Punjab on Thursday after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
At the same time, he said that there should be a dedicated manifesto for the women of Punjab.Flanked by Chief Minister Channi and Sidhu, Rahul also paid obeisance at the Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki temple in Amritsar.After partaking 'Langar' with Sidhu and Channi at the Golden Temple, Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with the party candidates with the message 'Navi Soch, Nava Punjab'.Later, the Congress leader started the campaign by addressing a virtual rally from Jalandhar.The Congress has so far fielded 109 candidates for the 117-member Punjab Assembly that will go to the polls on February 20. The names of the remaining candidates are yet to be announced.The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.