The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has once again been the early bird in Punjab. The party has come up with its first list of seven candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Of the total 13 seats in the state, three seats are in the quota of alliance partner BJP which has already recommended the names to the party headquarters. The Congress, however, is way behind as there is no clarity about its candidates, barring four seats where Union ministers Parneet Kaur (Patiala), Manish Tewari (Ludhiana), Santosh Chaudhary (Hoshiarpur) and state Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa (Gurdaspur) are expected to fight.
Of the seven SAD candidates, two are sitting MLAs and four will fight the Lok Sabha polls for the first time. “By announcing the candidates early, they (candidates) get ample time to do the ground work and meet people,” says SAD secretary Daljeet Singh Cheema.
The party’s secretary general and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa will contest from Sangrur where he had lost to Vijay Inder Singla of the Congress in 2009. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of SAD president and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, has been fielded in Bathinda. This will be her second election. Last time, she defeated Raninder Singh, son of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, by more than one lakh votes.
Former minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura has been given the ticket from Khadoor Sahib while senior party leader Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, who has been unsuccessfully fighting from Patiala against Congress candidate Parneet Kaur, has been shifted to Anandpur Sahib.
The party has elevated some MLAs too. Jalandhar will see one such candidate in Pawan Tinu, sitting MLA from Adampur. Similarly, Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali will contest from Ludhiana, which promises to be a multi-cornered battle.
Meanwhile, first-timer Kulwant Singh has got the ticket from Fatehgarh Sahib (reserved). He runs a real estate empire under Janta Land Promoters Ltd and was earlier SAD’s Mohali district chief. Brahmpura, Ayali, Tinu and Kulwant will fight the Lok Sabha polls for the first time.
SAD has changed its candidates in Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib which went to the Congress last time. While Cheema had lost from Anandpur Sahib, singer-turned-politician Hansraj Hans lost from Jalandhar. At present, SAD has five seats in its kitty while its ally BJP one and the rest are with the Congress.
BJP will contest in three seats—Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. The state election committee of the party has sent three names to the party high command, including sitting MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, BJP state vice president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina and former minister Baldev Raj Chawla for Amritsar seat.
From Gurdaspur, the name of former MP and cine star Vinod Khanna was discussed. Swaran Salaria’s name was also recommended to the party high command. From Hoshiarpur, the name of sitting MLA from Phagwara, Som Parkash, has been recommended. He had last time lost to Congress candidate Santosh Chaudhary. National Council Member Avtar Singh Sikri also claims ticket from the seat, and there is a third hopeful, Vijay Sampla.
The Congress’s list of candidates is expected by next week. Given the mood against the party and the recent triumphs of the SAD-BJP alliance in all types of polls, Congress leaders are shying away from contests. Bajwa wants Amarinder Singh to fight from Bathinda against Harsimrat, but Amarinder has no such plans. Senior leaders like former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Jagmeet Singh Brar are also keeping a low profile to avoid coming in sight of the Lok Sabha polls.