Punjab: BJP list a cocktail of all parties

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, April 16

With three more nominations, the Punjab BJP has announced nine candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The list is a cocktail of all parties with seven belonged to other parties some time back.

Declares three candidates

Parampal Kaur Sidhu

A former IAS officer, she is fielded from the Bathinda parliamentary constituency. She is the daughter-in-law of former Punjab Minister and senior Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka. This is her first election. Her success will depend on how many Akali votes her father-in-law can garner for her.

Manjit Singh Manna

He is contesting from the Khadoor Sahib seat. This is Mianwind’s first Lok Sabha election. He had won the Assembly seat on SAD ticket in 2002 and 2007. A former Akali leader, Manna Mianwind will have to convince voters on the BJP’s plans for Punjab, especially on Sikh issues, including prisoners

Anita Som Parkash

She is the candidate for the Hoshiarpur (reserved) constituency. Anita Som Parkash is the wife of Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and sitting Hoshiarpur MP Som Parkash. This is a traditional BJP seat and Anita will be contesting her first election.

Gurdaspur’s babbu only traditional saffron leader

• Ravneet Bittu: A Congress-turned BJP candidate from Ludhiana seat
• Sushil Rinku: Sitting AAP MP, he is now contesting on BJP ticket from Jalandhar
• Taranjit Sandhu: The ex-diplomat, with last stint as Indian Ambassador to the USA, is starting a new innings in politics. The BJP has not won the seat after its Amritsar MP Navjot Sidhu moved to Congress
• Dinesh Kumar Babbu: A traditional BJP leader, he is contesting from Gurdaspur, which had favoured BJP candidates in the past too
• Hans Raj Hans: A Sufi singer, Hans is trying to win the hearts of farmers for BJP in Faridkot
• Preneet Kaur: Once traditional Congress politician, she has moved to the BJP. Her personal rapport with the voters is her strength

The party today announced ex-IAS officer and ‘Maluka bahu’ Parampal Kaur Sidhu’s name from Bathinda while ex-MP Som Parkash’s wife Anita Som Parkash got the ticket from Hoshiarpur. From the panthic seat of Khadoor Sahib, the BJP fielded former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind.

Parampal also belongs to an Akali family. Her father-in-law Sikander Singh Maluka has represented SAD and remained a Cabinet minister in the Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government.

The BJP won the Hoshiarpur seat in 2014 and 2019 poll. The party’s Vijay Sampla had won it in 2014 while Som Parkash had defeated Congress nominee Raj Kumar Chabbewal in 2019.

In Khadoor Sahib, this is Mianwind’s first Lok Sabha election. He had won the Assembly seat on SAD ticket in 2002 and 2007. He contested 2022 Assembly election on the BJP ticket from Baba Bakala, but came a distant fourth.

The Khadoor Sahib seat is held by Congress MP Jasbir Singh. AAP has fielded Laljit Bhullar from this seat. SAD is yet to announce candidate from this seat.

Of the nine candidates, three (Manjit Singh Mianwind, Parampal Kaur Sidhu, Han Raj Hans) had earlier affiliations with SAD with Hans being with the Congress as well. Three (Perneet Kaur, Ravinder Bittu and Sushil Rinku ) were with the Congress earlier while Rinku contested the Jalandhar seat successfully on the AAP ticket before switching allegiance.

Ex-diplomat Taranjeet Sandhu has been nominated from Amritsar while traditional BJP leader Som Parkash’s wife Anita will contest from Hoshiarpur. Another BJP leader Dinesh Kumar Babbu is contesting from Gurdaspur.

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