BJP looks to shortlist candidates for 3 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 20

The BJP, which contests three Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal, is believed to be shortlisting candidates. 

While Hoshiarpur MP and Union Minister Vijay Sampla appears to be the front-runner for the reserved constituency, sources say the party is trying for a “sharp-cut politician, preferably a panthic leader” for the crucial Amritsar seat which senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley lost to Capt Amarinder Singh in 2014 despite the Narendra Modi wave.

The saffron party was also unable to wrest it back from the Congress in the 2017 bypoll, sliding down further in its vote share in the constituency.

Likewise in Gurdaspur, where again the BJP learnt the lesson the hard way after losing the seat held by Vinod Khanna to Congress’ Sunil Jakhar in 2017, it is learnt that the party is most likely to field either his wife Kavita Khanna or son Akshay Khanna to make the most of the “good work and the good will” enjoyed by the late actor-turned-politician in the constituency.

“Vinod Khanna had an individual standing, it is best that a family member contest there,” said a senior BJP leader in the know of ongoing political developments in the state.

In the 2017 by-elections, BJP’s Swaran Salaria suffered a humiliating defeat in Gurdaspur, losing the seat to Jakhar by almost two lakh votes.

Meanwhile, for Amritsar even though the name of Union Minister Hardeep Puri and other senior leaders like RP Singh (who has already rubbished the speculations that he was in fray for Amritsar) are doing the rounds, sources said the BJP was trying for “a sharp-cut politician, preferably a panthic name” to counter the challenge of Congress, AAP and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) for the seat where Sikhs comprise around 69 per cent of the population.

In the 2017 by-elections for Amritsar, BJP’s Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna lost to Congress’ Gurjeet Singh Aujla, losing 7.29 per cent of party’s vote share since 2014, when Jaitley lost.

Besides Amritsar and Gurdaspur are important border districts which the BJP would like to retain, he adds.

“In Hoshiarpur, we already has a sitting MP. Why should we lose the chance to project our backward face in the state where they comprise almost 38 per cent of the population,” he said.

This despite political setbacks by Sampla and speculations that Phagwara MLA Som Parkash could be the BJP man in Hoshiarpur.

All these factors and the ground situation will be discussed with BJP chief Amit Shah when he visits Amritsar on February 24, sources add.