Ashu likely to be Congress pick for Ludhiana bypoll

Former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s name has been cleared as the Congress candidate for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll likely to be held in the first week of May, according to a senior party leader.

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Ashu, who had met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, has been told to go ahead with his preparations, the leader said, adding that the former minister had urged the party to make the announcement after some time.

A prominent Hindu face of the Congress, Ashu was defeated by AAP leader Gurpreet Bassi Gogi from the constituency in the 2022 Assembly election by 7,500 votes. The bypoll has been necessitated due to the death of Gogi in January this year.

A Congress source said Ashu’s candidature was discussed at a recently held political affairs committee meeting chaired by AICC general secretary incharge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel.

Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Raja Warring claimed that an internal survey by ruling AAP had shown that it has been relegated to the third spot in terms of popularity in the constituency ahead of the bypoll.

AAP has fielded its Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora for the contest.

“After the Delhi loss, people are going to reject the Punjab model. As the party leadership is jittery about it, all senior leaders are camping in Ludhiana,” said Warring taking a dig at the early start of AAP campaign in the segment.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also held a rally there earlier in the month.

Meanwhile, sources said the stakes for the state’s main Opposition Congress were high as it wanted to win back its former stronghold.