New Delhi, Dec 15  Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal are among the 61 candidates announced by the party on Thursday in its first list for the upcoming assembly elections.

While Amarinder Ssingh will contest from Patiala, Manpreet Badal will fight from Bathinda Urban. The party, in its first list, has retained 31 sitting MLAs. 

Meanwhile, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu's name is not there.

Among other prominent figures in the list are Charanjit Channi, the sitting MLA from Chamkaur Sahib (SC), Rajinder Kaur Bhattal from Lehra, Sunil Jakhar from Abohar, and O.P. Soni from Amritsar Central.

The name of former Lok Sabha MP Vijay Inder Singla is also there. He will contest from Sangrur, from where he lost the poll for the parliamentary constituency of the same name in the 2014 general elections.

The list was released by party General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry.