Punjab bypolls: Denied AAP ticket, Barnala planning board chief to contest as independent

Gurdeep Singh Bath alleges ‘dostiwaad’ as AAP MP Gurmeet Hayer’s friend Harinder Singh Dhaliwal gets Barnala ticket.

Barnala district planning board chairman Gurdeep Singh Bath on Tuesday resigned from the post after the Aam Aadmi Party denied him the AAP ticket for the November 13 byelection from the Barnala assembly constituency. The AAP has fielded Harinder Singh Dhaliwal from Barnala.

Barnala district planning board chairman Gurdeep Singh Bath was one of the frontrunners for the AAP ticket. He claimed that both the central and state AAP leadership had assured him of the ticket for the November 13 bypoll. (HT file photo)

Bath announced that he will contest bypoll as an independent candidate.

“I will not resign from the party, as my fight is to strengthen it. If the party’s high command believes I am acting against them, they are free to expel me,” Bath said.

Byelections to four assembly seats of Dera Baba Nanak, Barnala, Chabbewal (SC) and Gidderbaha will be held on November 13 and votes will be counted on November 23. The Barnala seat fell vacant after AAP MLA Gurmeet Singh Hayer was elected to the Lok Sabha in June.

Bath has been the party’s district president since 2018 and was one of the frontrunners for the AAP ticket. He claimed that both the central and state AAP leadership had assured him of the ticket.

He alleged that Dhaliwal was chosen only because of his close ties and past association as a classmate of AAP MP Hayer. “We have heard of dynasty politics, but this is something new: Dostiwaad (favouring friends). Dhaliwal has been working for MP Gurmeet Hayer and not for the party. He didn’t even hold the position of booth in-charge before being named the candidate from Barnala,” Bath said.

Dhaliwal and Hayer studied together in a Barnala school till Class 12 after which they both got enrolled in a private engineering college in Banur. .