BJP Punjab panel shortlists names of 40 for 13 seats

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 14

Former Punjab Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said he was hopeful of a BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal pre-poll alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections very soon and the two parties, in alliance, would beat rivals in the state.

He said this even as the BJP Punjab election committee met in the national capital today and shortlisted nearly 40 candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The panel featuring names will now be taken to the BJP high command for consideration as and when the central core committee meets.

The committee meeting which lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours at BJP headquarters was chaired by Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar. Also present were BJP Punjab affairs in-charge Vijay Rupani and panel members including national general secretary Tarun Chugh, BJP parliamentary board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura and former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia.

Sources said the name of sitting Patiala MP Preneet Kaur had been listed as the sole candidate from Patiala.

Speaking to The Tribune earlier, Amarinder Singh said SAD and BJP would sweep parliamentary elections in Punjab if they came together.

The former Chief Minister also said seat negotiation was underway but did not divulge nuances of talks.

The Tribune has learnt that the BJP is seeking two (Patiala and Ludhiana or Anandpur Sahib) parliamentary constituencies in addition to Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur which they have traditionally contested in alliance with SAD.

Patiala and Ludhiana, sources say, are more suitable for the BJP as these are predominantly urban. Anandpur Sahib is considered a seat with major Hindu voter influence which could favour the BJP.

SAD is learnt to be agreeable on giving four seats to BJP which will also contest Chandigarh. While both sides weigh options, SAD is learnt to be seeking some resolution on the ‘Bandi Singhs’ issue apart from farmers’ matters.