Ludhiana: Candidates from diverse fields in fray, from newcomers to seasoned politicians

Candidates from major political parties contesting for the upcoming Ludhiana West bypoll have varied backgrounds. From businessmen to advocate and staunch politicians, voters have diverse options to choose from. It will be a maiden attempt of BJP and SAD candidates while AAP candidate is a Rajya Sabha MP. But the latter will be fighting directly from the field for the first time while the Congress candidate is a seasoned politician.

Indian National Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu is the working president of the Punjab Congress and has represented the Ludhiana (West) seat earlier twice. Ashu had won from Ludhiana West in 2012 and 2017 consecutively and remained food and civil supplies minister during the previous Congress government’s tenure.

He has done BA from Arya College, Ludhiana, and has been three times municipal councillor in 1997 from Ward 48, in 2002 from Ward 54 and in 2007 from Ward 54. He was elected MLA from the Ludhiana West Vidhan Sabha constituency by defeating Rajinder Bhandari of BJP in 2012, then in 2017 from the Ludhiana West Vidhan Sabha constituency by defeating Ahbaab Grewal of AAP and became Cabinet Minister of Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab, in 2017. He lost election to AAP’s Gurpreet Gogi in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections in 2022.

After AAP came to power in 2022, Ashu was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in the alleged multi-crore foodgrain transportation scam. He remained in jail for nearly seven months before getting bail from the High Court in March 2023. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2024 for alleged money laundering related to the same case.

He bailed out in December 2024. In the same month, the HC also quashed the FIRs registered against him by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau calling it a “pure vendetta.”

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sanjeev Arora is a Ludhiana-based industrialist and politician and made his first innings in politics as Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) in 2022. He is the richest candidate in fray with assets worth Rs 320 crore. He runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust in Punjab and his primary business is in the export industry, real estate and clothing.

He has done Bachelor of Commerce from SCD Government College in Ludhiana. As MP (Rajya Sabha), he has raised issues pertaining to infrastructure, healthcare and industry. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal recently during a road show said: “Ludhiana runs in his veins and he keeps coming to us every other day with his new plans for the development of the city”.

His “three-year report card,” showcases major development projects initiated and pursued under his leadership. These include the Halwara Airport, the elevated road project, the upgrade of ESI and Civil Hospitals, and the construction of four new bridges on the Sidhwan Canal and creation of parking lots along the elevated road, the development of a cycle track, and beautification efforts beneath the elevated road.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Jiwan Gupta, a core group member of the BJP and former state general secretary, will be contesting his maiden Assembly elections. A seasoned party worker, he hails from Bassi Pathana in Fatehgarh Sahib district before his family shifted to Ludhiana. He started his political journey with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and has been associated with the BJP for over two decades. He has done higher secondary from Ashoka Higher Secondary School, Sirhind, and rose through the ranks to become state general secretary when Ashwani Sharma was the Punjab BJP president.

Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman is a newcomer in politics but he is an experienced lawyer and former president of the Ludhiana Bar Association. He also served as a member of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana. He has done LLB from Punjabi University, Patiala. One of the landmark cases that Ghuman fought was the abduction and murder of a 2.5-year-old girl, for which the accused was sentenced to death.