After Vipan Sood Kaka backstepped from contesting Lok Sabha elections citing health issues, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is considering names of local leaders for the Ludhiana constituency.
As the SAD is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone, the party is in no hurry to choose the candidate.
Vipan Sood Kaka said that while party president Sukhbir Singh Badal had announced his name as candidate from Ludhiana two years ago, he had enough time to make a connection with the city residents. He added that he decided to backstep due to health issues.
“I have conveyed my decision to the party president. However, I will continue to work to strengthen the party and will put efforts to make the party candidate win,” said Kaka.
Former mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, ex-MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon and former additional advocate general Parupkar Singh Ghumman are front-runners for the part ticket from Ludhiana. Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali and former cabinet minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal are also being considered.
Gohalwaria served as a mayor from 2012 to 2017. A three-time councillor, Gohalwaria is member of the advisory board of SAD. His brother and wife had also served as councillors.
Ranjit Singh Dhillon was a two-time councillor before contesting assembly elections from the Ludhiana East constituency. He also served as the district president of SAD for five years.
{{/usCountry}}Ranjit Singh Dhillon was a two-time councillor before contesting assembly elections from the Ludhiana East constituency. He also served as the district president of SAD for five years.
{{/usCountry}}Advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman served as the president of the District Bar Association for five terms and as the vice-chairperson of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council. He was also the Punjab additional advocate general. Currently, he is a member of the SAD advisory board.
MLA Manpreet Ayali and Maheshinder Singh Grewal unsuccessfully contested the elections as candidates of the SAD-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Ayali managed to get 256,590 votes in 201. Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu had won and AAP’s Harvinder Singh Phoolka stood second.
Maheshinder Singh Grewal managed to get 2,99,435 votes in 2019 elections. Sitting MP Ravneet Singh Bittu won the polls and Lok Insaaf Party candidate Simarjeet Singh Bains was the first runner-up.