Kavita, Salaria on BJP list

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, September 13

After the announcement of the Gurdaspur parliamentary bypoll, the focus has shifted to candidates of the three main political parties — the BJP, Congress and AAP They are yet to announce their candidates.

The election is considered significant, with the Congress treating it as a referendum on its performance in six months in power. As for the BJP, which draws its strength from the trading community, it will be testing the waters for the first time after the imposition of the GST.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be seeking to regain the lost ground after the drubbing it received in the Vidhan Sabha elections earlier this year. It had lost all nine Assembly seats of this Lok Sabha segment.

The race for the ticket in the BJP has narrowed down to former MP Vinod Khanna’s widow Kavita Khanna and Mumbai industrialist Swaran Salaria, whose ancestral home is in the Bhoa segment of the Gurdaspur constituency.

Salaria is pulling the strings through yoga exponent Ramdev, while Kavita Khanna is banking upon spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior BJP leader LK Advani.

AAP, for its part, has selected its candidate, but it is reluctant to announce his name.

Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Khaira said, “The party has zeroed in on a candidate. He is from the Gurdaspur segment, is an old guard and is well-versed with the party’s ideology. I cannot disclose his name.”

Waiver: Govt to seek EC nod for notification

Chandigarh: The state government will be seeking the permission of the Election Commission of India before it issues the notification regarding the recommendations of the T Haque committee for rolling out the farm loan waiver. Official sources say the notification is ready and as the decision has already been announced, the government would be seeking the Election Commission's approval for notifying the policy. The model code of conduct is only in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha area, but the policy is for the entire state, said an official. The transfer orders of 46 PPS and six IPS officers, which were announced on Tuesday, will also have to be approved by the EC. TNS