On Thursday, BJP declared the names of its candidates for 17 seats in Punjab but withheld the announcement for six others, where the party has sitting MLAs, indicating that some of them could be dropped.
The six seats include four represented by ministers in the BJP-SAD government. Most of them could be dropped because they are over 75 years of age and others are being seen more vulnerable in an election where the alliance is weathering 10 years of anti-incumbency.
Rajesh Hani will contest from Amritsar East, a seat held by Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who along with her husband Navjot Singh Sidhu has quit BJP. She has joined Congress.
Name of the five MLAs in list are – Dinesh Singh Babbu, Seema Kumari, Ashwani Sharma, K D Bhandari and Sukhjeet Kaur Sahi from Sujanpur, Bhoa, Pathankot, Jalandhar North and Dasuya constituencies respectively.
National Secretary of BJP – Tarun Chugh will fight from Amritsar Central.
The CEC including PM Modi and party president Amit Shah, had met last evening to finalise the names. As per the sources that there are divergent views in the party over dropping some of the MLAs, causing a delay in the final announcement.
The last date of filing nomination is 18th January 2017. The state assembly election is to be held on 4th February 2017.
Aam Aadmi Party has emerged in Punjab state as a formidable third force in the state. SAD-BJP is locked in a tough battle with Congress and AAP.
