Punjab votes on February 20 and the results will be declared on March 10.
Two days before Rahul Gandhi's big reveal on who will be Congress's Chief Minister candidate in Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu launched a direct attack at his rival Charanjit Singh Channi and said the party must choose someone "honest and with a clean track record" - a significant choice of words on a day Mr Channi saw a relative arrested for corruption.
Navjot Sidhu also stressed that any Chief Minister choice should have the backing of at least 60 MLAs.
"If you choose someone devoid of moral authority, devoid of ethics or someone who is dishonest and part of some corruption and mafia, then people will vote for change and bury you like a mooli," the Punjab Congress chief told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
"We need an honest candidate. Your destiny depends on what you choose. It is choice, not chance that determines your destiny. A 'mafia-type person' cannot implement your programmes. A person who himself is mafia protector-in-chief, how can he crack down on the mafia?" Mr Sidhu said.
Mr Sidhu is competing with Chief Minister Channi in the race to be declared the Congress's presumptive Chief Minister for Punjab.
This morning, news emerged that Mr Channi's nephew Bhupendra Singh "Honey" had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an illegal sand-mining case.
Mr Sidhu, making a case for himself, said any Chief Minister choice would need to have moral authority and a 17-year track record.
"I can't call myself a CM candidate. But how many people do you see that are celebrities and have won six elections?" he said.
"Only people can choose the Chief Minister. The voice of the people is the voice of God. I can say that I am not responsible for what others do but Navjot Singh Sidhu chawanni rawadar nahin hai (Navjot Sidhu is no small fry)".
Asked whether he would accept whatever his party decided, Mr Sidhu said: "There is no question of my accepting or not. It is whether people will accept it. Whoever your leader is will need to have the support of 60 MLAs. Everyone can't become Chief Minister. How can you become CM without MLAs?"
The comment comes a day after another Punjab Congress leader, Sunil Jakhar, was heard saying in a video that a majority of MLAs had backed him for the top post after the Congress sacked Amarinder Singh in September.
On Mr Jakhar's list, Mr Sidhu ranked at the bottom with the support of only six MLAs, slightly above Mr Channi (two MLAs).
Punjab votes on February 20 and the results will be declared on March 10.