E-Paper
Ludhiana: Congress announces 63 candidates, relies on old guard
Mamta Ashu, wife of former cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, has again been fielded from Ward 60; former deputy mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra will contest from Ward 84.
The Congress released its first list of 63 candidates for the civic body elections to 95 wards of Ludhiana on Tuesday. The list primarily includes experienced leaders who had won in the last MC elections.
Out of the 63 candidates announced, 45 are former winners from the previous elections, while the remaining names are from wards with single nominations. Importantly, in the rest of the 32 wards, there are huge discussions over candidates of former MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains who joined the party a few months ago. Bains brothers are trying to arrange tickets for their leaders in Atam Nagar and South constituency. Due to this, the second list is getting delayed, say insiders.
Mamta Ashu, wife of former cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, has again been fielded from Ward 60. Similarly, former deputy mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra will contest from Ward 84. Baljinder Singh Bunty again got a ticket from Jawahar Nagar camp area where he won elections in last MC elections.
Parminder Kaur, wife of Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s close aide Inderjeet Singh Indi, has been allotted ticket for Ward 61. This comes despite Indi’s recent arrest by the Vigilance Bureau in a multi-crore transportation tender scam involving grain markets across the state.
Former mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu is not contesting this time. His ward has been divided into three new wards after delimitation, with Congress candidates Suresh Sharma, Sonika Sharma and Sandeep Kumar Sipa receiving tickets for these areas.
On Tuesday, the second day of filing nominations, only one candidate submitted papers for Ward 53. A single nomination was filed on the first day as well. The low pace of nomination filing so far indicates that candidates are finalising their strategies before making their entries official.
The Congress appears focused on ensuring stability within its ranks by retaining its old guard while accommodating trusted allies. The list’s composition reflects the party’s confidence in its tested leaders and their ability to secure voter trust.
Sanjay Talwar, district president of the party, said, “All the tickets have been allotted keeping in view the hard work of leaders. The Congress will win with a thumping majority in this MC elections.”
With the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) already releasing its list of candidates, the political contest is heating up as the process of filing nomination papers is set to gain momentum.
