Ludhiana | 14 sitting MLAs hope history repeats itself in Punjab assembly polls

All the 14 sitting MLAs from Ludhiana are looking to retain their seats in the high-stakes Punjab assembly polls

All the 14 sitting MLAs from Ludhiana are looking to retain their seats in the high-stakes Punjab assembly polls.

All the 14 sitting MLAs from Ludhiana are looking to retain their seats in the high-stakes Punjab assembly polls. (Representative Image/HT File)

In the 2017 assembly elections, Congress had won eight of 14 seats – Ludhiana North (Rakesh Pandey), East (Sanjay Talwar), West (Bharat Bhushan Ashu), Central (Surinder Dawar), Khanna (Gurkirat Kotli), Payal (Lakhvir Lakha), Samrala (Amrik Dhillon) and Gill (Kuldeep Vaid).

The AAP-LIP alliance had won five seats – Dakha (HS Phoolka, AAP), Raikot (Jagtar Hissowal, AAP), Jagraon (Sarvjit Kaur Manuke, AAP) and Atam Nagar (Simarjeet Bains, LIP) and Ludhiana South (Balwinder Bains, LIP) – while the SAD-BJP alliance came out victorious only in Sahnewal, which was won by Sharanjit Singh Dhillon.

However, HS Phoolka resigned and by-elections were held in Dakha in 2019,where SAD’s Manpreet Ayali came out victorious, defeating Congress’s Captain Sandeep Sandhu. This time, it is close contest between Ayali, Sandhu and AAP candidate KNS Kang.

Samrala MLA Amrik Dhillon is contesting the election as an independent candidate, after Congress fielded Raja Gill from the constituency. Meanwhile, Jagtar Singh Hissowal, who left AAP to join the Congress, is contesting from Jagraon against his former colleague and former deputy leader of opposition, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke.