Lok Sabha elections: Punjab BJP eyes celebs, decision after Holi

CHANDIGARH: The BJP, which will contest three of 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab — Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur — is yet to finalise its candidates. A meeting of the 15-member

Punjab BJP

election committee on Tuesday recommended over 10 names to the party high command, but there is growing speculation that the party is keen on fielding celebrities — either actor Sunny Deol or former cricketer Harbhajan Singh from Amritsar and actor Akshaye Khanna from Gurdaspur.


No confirmation was available about the names, but sources said the committee has recommended sitting MP and Union minister of state Vijay Sampla for the Hoshiarpur reserved seat. Phagwara MLA and former bureaucrat Som Parkash and former chairman of the Punjab scheduled caste commission Rajesh Bagha too have been added to the list of probables from this seat.

For Amritsar, the sources added, Union minister of state Hardeep Singh Puri, former minister in the Punjab SAD-BJP government Anil Joshi, state BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina and Bollywood actress Poonam Dhillon have made the list.

The committee, which includes Sampla, Punjab BJP general secretary (organisation) Dinesh Kumar, national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna, national secretary Tarun Chugh, former minister Madan Mohan Mittal and former Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma, has chosen actor Vinod Khanna’s widow Kavita Khanna, businessman Swarn Salaria who had unsuccessfully contested the 2017bypoll from the seat against PCC chief Sunil Jakhar, former minister in SAD-BJP government Master Mohan Lal, former president of Punjab BJP Ashwani Sharma and state BJP vicepresident Narinder Parmar for Gurdaspur list of probables. Sujanpur MLA and ex-deputy speaker Dinesh Singh (Babbu)’s candidature was also discussed at the meeting.

“Our state committee has made recommendations in today’s meeting and the final decision now rests with the party high command. I cannot disclose the names since it is a confidential matter,” said Punjab BJP president Shwait Malik.

The committee also decided that the Punjab BJP would have no objection if the party high command decided to field any candidate other than those recommended.


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