Punjab polls: Congress to release first list of candidates tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh today said the party will release the first list of candidates for the 2017 state Assembly polls tomorrow, as he termed political rival AAP as "gone case".

Describing AAP as a "movement of frustration", Singh ruled out any alliance between his party and AAP, before or after elections.

"It (alliance) is out of question. They (AAP) are nowhere in the state," he said.

Hitting out at AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder said, "I asked him (Kejriwal) for debate...but he did not come...he wants to be Chief Minister of Punjab, he should debate with me. There are 117 seats in Punjab, he can contest against me from whichever seat he wants to..."

He also challenged BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to contest from Amritsar as a "referendum on demonetisation."

Replying to a question whether cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Siddhu would join Congress, Amarinder said he would be meeting Sidhu after he came back from his shooting schedule in Mumbai.

He expressed confidence that Sidhu would join the Congress.

Attacking the ruling Akalis in the state, the Congress leader said, "Punjab had been brought to its knees by the Akalis. The state needs serious planning and policy initiatives to bring it out of its current mess."

Speaking on the issue of demonetisation, Amarinder said, "...tempers are rising among Punjab's people who have a very short fuse."

The Congress leader added that the party will announce the remaining list of candidates on December 8.