Cong picks turncoat, wives of 2 MPs, district in-charge for bypolls in Punjab

Jupinderjit Singh & Rajmeet Singh

The Congress and the BJP on Tuesday announced candidates for the November 13 byelections in Punjab. While the Congress named all four candidates, the saffron party announced names for three of the four seats.

Wives of two sitting MPs, a district unit in-charge and a turncoat are among the candidates who have been allotted the ticket by the Congress.

Amrita Warring, wife of PPCC chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, has been fielded from Gidderbaha, while Jatinder Kaur, wife of Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Randhawa, will contest from the Dera Baba Nanak seat.

Kuldeep Singh Dhillon, Barnala district party in-charge, has got the ticket from Barnala. Ranjit Kumar, a turncoat who fought the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha election on the BSP ticket, has been fielded from Chabbewal.

Based on the report submitted by Punjab affairs in-charge Devender Yadav, the Congress announced the candidates. While announcing the names, the party has given the 'one family, one ticket' rule a go-by. Sources said while there was a clarity on the Gidderbaha, Sangrur and Dera Baba Nanak seats, the party had been struggling to find a suitable candidate for the Chabbewal seat. The party was trying to rope in disgruntled AAP leader Harminder Sandhu, who was recently denied ticket from the segment. However, it did not materialise and Ranjit Kumar was given the ticket.

Meanwhile, the BJP also announced three candidates for the bypolls.

Former state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal has been fielded from Gidderbaha, ex-Congress leader Kewal Dhillon from Barnala and former Akali leader Ravi Karan Kahlon from Dera Baba Nanak. The party held discussions for the Chabbewal seat in Hoshiarpur but could not finalise the candidate today. The names of Vijay Sampla and Anita Som Parkash are doing the rounds for the seat but the party can spring a surprise also. The party has chosen to the Lok Sabha election formula by fielding non-traditional BJP leaders for the bypolls. All three candidates named today joined the BJP in the last two years.

However, the party could not win any seat in the state by following the formula in the Lok Sabha elections this year when it had fielded 11 former Congress leaders. However, its vote share had increased by three times in the elections.

BJP sources said state party president Sunil Jakhar was part of the discussions held for choosing the candidates. Earlier, Jakhar had told the party high command that he did not want to continue as the state chief. Jakhar’s name was at the top of the list of 40 star campaigners submitted by the party to the EC today.

Amrita in Gidderbaha, Ranjit from Chabbewal

• Warring’s wife Amrita Cong face from Gidderbaha, Randhawa’s wife Jatinder Kaur from Dera Baba Nanak
• Ranjit Kumar from Chabbewal, Kuldeep Dhillon in Barnala
• BJP bets on Akali ex-leader Kahlon in Dera Baba Nanak, Manpreet Badal in Gidderbaha
• Picks Kewal Dhillon in Barnala, still undecided in Chabbewal