Gandhi, who led Congress for two decades, was killed by policemen Beant Singh and Satwant Singh on October 30, 1984 in retaliation for an army assault she ordered earlier that year on the Golden Temple, Sikhdom's holiest shrine.

A state party spokesman said the Congress, which governs Punjab, was fielding former bureaucrat Manmohan Singh Chitanwali in the Chamkaur Sahib constituency for the February 13 polls to the 117-strong legislature.

Chitanwali, a first cousin of Beant Singh, dismissed any links with Singh, who died in a hail of bullets fired by security men after he shot Gandhi at her official residence in New Delhi.

"I am ready to face any inquiry pertaining to this issue," Chitanwali told reporters.