Chandigarh: Putting to rest all speculations, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not contest in the upcoming general elections.
Manmohan Singh was “never in reckoning for candidature as he had made it clear that he was not interested in contesting elections”, Amarinder Singh told the media here
There were speculations that the former Prime Minister would be fielded as the Congress candidate from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. The Chief Minister described his meeting with the former Prime Minister in New Delhi on Saturday as a “courtesy call”.
“We went to enquire about his health. We briefed the former Prime Minister on the Congress plans in Punjab,” Amarinder Singh said.
Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in the last phase – May 19 – of the seven phase parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile a total of 507 voters in Punjab have enrolled themselves as belonging to the third gender, Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said on Tuesday. (Agencies)
