Chandigarh:  Differences between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu has quite open with regard to Chief Minister candidate of the party.

Mr. Sidhu said that the people of Punjab will pick the new Chief Minister, indirectly opposing the leadership of Channi to lead the Assembly elections.

However, on the other hand, Mr. Channi told a local channel that, the party should announce a chief ministerial candidate before the elections. Mr. Channi said that “whenever the party has not announced a  CM candidate, it has lost the elections”, he said when asked his party should name a candidate before the Assembly elections.

"When the party declared its CM candidate during the 2017 elections, it has won the elections. Before that, when it did not declare the candidate, the party has lost the polls. Whenever the party has not announced the CM candidate, it has lost. So the party should announce it," he replied.

However Mr. Channi has refused to comment on who should be named as CM candidate by the party, but he talked about people waving at him wherever he went and even breaking through barricades to try and meet him.

But Mr. Sidhu said opposing to Channi statement of party high command to choose CM candidate. "Who told you the high command will pick the Chief Minister?" Mr. Sidhu told reporters.

Mr Sidhu had been asked about Congress leader Sunil Jakhar's recent comment that the Congress would not announce a chief ministerial face before the election.

The party will contest the polls under a "joint leadership", Mr Jakhar had said last month.

Punjab is facing infighting, but AAP is hoping to attain power in the state. It has the confidence to improve its previous tally. In the 2017 Assembly elections party has won 20 seats. Congress has received a big jolt after former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh break away from the party and formed Punjab Lok Congress and seat-sharing arrangement with BJP.