Chandigarh: The Bhartiya Janta Party will be contesting 65 seats in the upcoming Punjab Assembly Elections. While the former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress will be contesting 37 seats, their third alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal (Samyukt) gets 15. This announcement was made at a news conference in Delhi.
The announcement was made by Captain Amarinder Singh and BJP chief JP Nadda and Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Praising Punjab as a leader, especially in defence and food security of the country, Nadda at the press conference said, “Today Punjab needs special attention, it needs a double engine government and a better coordination between the centre and the state.”
On January 23, Amarinder Singh had announced the first list of 22 candidates, from his party, contesting polls from 22 constituencies. Ex-captain of the Indian hockey team Ajit Pal Singh was among the prominent names, on the list.
“We have given a good set of candidates with a clear focus on winnability while ensuring due representation across regions and various sections of the society,” Captain Singh, who will contest from his Patiala Urban seat, said at a news conference.
Of the 37 seats in his share, 26 are from the Malwa region of the state with which Captain Singh has had strong family ties and used to be part of the erstwhile royal estate of Patiala.
The region had helped Captain Singh swing the 2007 election for the Congress with his agricultural reforms. This time, the former Chief Minister could be helped by the eventual revocation of the farm laws by the centre, his supporters said.
Releasing the first list of nominees, the PLC chief said all these candidates have strong political credentials and are well-known faces in their respective constituencies.
There is just one woman among the candidates – Farzana Alam Khan, a former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA and wife of late police chief Izhar Alam Khan, will contest from Malerkotla in the Malwa region.
Amarinder Singh had on Saturday announced his decision to fight from his home constituency of Patiala Urban.
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