3-time councillor Hardeep Singh Saini Akali Dal’s pick from Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, April 22

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has named three-time city councillor and city unit president Hardeep Singh Saini its candidate for the city Lok Sabha seat, making the election a three-cornered fight.

Hardeep (41), who comes from Butrela village, is councillor from Ward Number 30 (Sector 41, Badheri and Butrela). He has been Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

The lone SAD councillor, who runs a tenting business, will start his poll campaign tomorrow after paying obeisance at Golden Temple in Amritsar. He is pitted against BJP’s Sanjay Tandon and Congress’ Manish Tewari.

He said, “MP Kirron Kher is responsible for the downfall of Chandigarh. During her 10-year tenure, Tandon had been city BJP president for eight years, so he cannot shirk away from the blame saying that he was not the parliamentarian at that time.”

On Tewari, he said, “Wherever he went as MP, whether in Anandpur Sahib or Ludhiana, he abandoned the people of his constituency. He is here for national politics and will not take up local issues. People should vote for a person who can understand and take up their issues. Who can understand the issues better than a councillor?”

While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, he said he would campaign in the entire city. He said issues of villages, including land pooling and fresh water connections outside lal doras, will be taken up besides the promotion of Punjabi language. Housing board, floor-wise registration and unemployment are among other issues he will prominently take up.

The SAD had been in alliance with the BJP in the Lok Sabha poll here all these years. The two parties had separately contested the December 2021 MC elections for the first time after parting ways over farmers’ protests.