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BJP fields Rana Gurmeet Sodhi from Ferozepur, Arvind Khanna is Sangrur pick
BJP names 3 Lok Sabha candidates in Punjab, including former minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi. BJP to contest alone after split with Shiromani Akali Dal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday named three more Lok Sabha candidates in Punjab, fielding former minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, 70, from Ferozepur parliamentary constituency, Subhash Sharma, 43, from Anandpur Sahib and Arvind Khanna, 56, from Sangrur.
With this, the BJP has fielded candidates in 12 out of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab. It is yet to name its nominee for the Fatehgarh Sahib (reserve) constituency.
This will be the first time since 1996 that the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one of the oldest constituents of the NDA which parted ways over the 2020-21 farm law protests, will be fighting the Lok Sabha polls alone in the state.
Sodhi, the BJP candidate from Ferozepur, was the sports minister in the Capt Amarinder Singh government in the state. He left the Congress and joined the BJP in 2021. He won the Guruhar Sahai assembly segment in Punjab in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 on Congress tickets.
According to senior BJP leaders, in the know of the matter, intense lobbying was on for the Ferozepur ticket. While state unit chief Sunil Jakhar was batting for former Congress MLA and businessman Raminder Singh Awla, who was ready to jump ship, many senior leaders in the state unit of the saffron party, including former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, had put their weight behind Sodhi.
Sodhi has been pitted against the Congress’ Sher Singh Ghubaya, AAP’s Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar and SAD’s Nardev Singh Bobby Mann. The Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by the SAD’s Sukhbir Badal, who has not decided to contest the polls this time.
The BJP’s Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat pick Subhash Sharma is the senior vice president of the party’s Punjab unit. He will face AAP’s Malvinder Singh Kang, Congress’ Vijay Inder Singla and SAD’s Prem Singh Chandumajra.
It is learnt that former Rajya Sabha member and senior leader Avinash Rai Khanna and a tricity-based realtor were also in the race for the ticket but in the end, the saffron party backed Sharma, as per its strategy to groom home-grown leaders.
Former MLA Arvind Khanna has been fielded from the Sangrur LS seat. Khanna is going to be the only Hindu candidate from the seat where all other candidates are Jat Sikhs. He is pitted against AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Congress’ Sukhpal Khaira, SAD (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann and SAD’s Iqbal Singh Jhundan.
Khanna has been a legislator twice in 2002 and 2012 on Congress tickets. He joined the BJP in 2022 and unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly polls from the Sangrur seat on a BJP ticket. He remained MLA twice from Dhuri (2012-14) and Sangrur (2002-07).
Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
