BJP to pit celebrity against Sidhu

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9

To counter Navjot Singh Sidhu, the probable Congress nominee from Amritsar East, the BJP leadership is considering fielding a star candidate against him for the Assembly elections.

It is expected that the Amritsar East nominee, along with 22 other names, will be declared on Wednesday. The Punjab BJP is prepared for possible changes in eight seats, sources said.

The candidature for Anandpur Sahib and Jalandhar West segments are facing problem because senior legislators Madan Mohan Mittal and Chunni Lal Bhagat are rallying for ticket for their sons. But the party leadership is considering other names.

Choosing to leave majority of seniors, there is a speculation over names from Abohar, Ferozepur, Phagwara, Amritsar West and Rajpura.

The party is unlikely to replace its MLAs Dinesh Babbu (Sujanpur), Seema Kumari (Bhoa), Ashwani Sharma (Pathankot), Manoranjan Kalia (Jalandhar Central), KD Bhandari (Jalandhar North), Anil Joshi (Amritsar North), and Surjit Jyani (Fazilka).

Some seats will not see change in candidates, who lost the 2012 elections. Those seats are Mukerian (Arunesh Kumar), Dasuya (Sukhjit Kaur Sahi), Hoshiarpur (Tikshan Sud), Ludhiana West (Rajinder Bhandar) and Amritsar Central (Tarun Chugh). Phagwara MLA Som Parkash is reportedly not on good terms with state BJP president Vijay Sampla. Sampla is learnt to be backing the candidature of former MLA Mohan Lal Banga from Phagwara.

Senior leader Satpal Gosain is keen to contest from Ludhiana Central, but names of his daughter Rajeshwari Gosain, grandson Amit Gosain and another relative Durgesh Sharma (state party cashier) have cropped up.

Party likely to declare list tomorrow

New Delhi: The BJP’s Central Election Committee  is expected to announce candidates for the Punjab and Goa Assembly elections on Wednesday. The committee includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and top BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and M Venkaiah Naidu. As far as Punjab is concerned, party leaders say most of the names have been finalised. tns