Byelections: 26 aspire for BJP ticket from Ludhiana West

As the byelections in the Ludhiana West constituency can be announced anytime, the BJP has intensified the scrutiny of ticket aspirants. As per information, as many as 26 persons have applied for the candidature from the BJP and the leadership has already intensified scanning of candidates to finalise the eligible candidate.

Though the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have announced former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, respectively, even prior to the enforcement of the poll code of conduct but the BJP usually has the tendency to announce candidate only after the enforcement of the poll code.

Rajnish Dhiman, district BJP president, told The Tribune here on Thursday that internal scrutiny of ticket aspirants was already done. The party high command had already taken reports regarding the ticket aspirants from the district BJP unit.

When asked about the expected time of announcement of the candidate, he said the BJP was not in a hurry to announce the same as the election date was yet to be announced.

When asked about the agenda on which the BJP would contest the byelections, Dhiman said maximum development works in Ludhiana were done in the West constituency and funds for the works were provided by the Centre but other parties are taking credit.”

Once the BJP declares its candidate, the party will release a list of development works carried under the Smart City mission funded by the Centre and the public will be made aware about the contribution of the party in development of the constituency,” he said.

Dhiman also claimed that out of the 26 ticket aspirants, 22 were men while four were women and 99 per cent aspirants were residents of the West constituency.

Party observers have recently met potential candidates and an announcement in this regard was expected soon. Front-runners include Rashi Aggarwal, Jiwan Gupta, Hobby Dhaliwal and advocate Bikram Singh Sidhu. Hobby is an actor, singer and politician who joined the BJP in 2022.”

Advocate Sidhu is an experienced lawyer practicing in areas such as criminal law, family law and intellectual property.

Senior party leaders are reportedly considering nominating a female leader, which could add a new dynamic to the elections. However, no official announcement has been made yet.