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Punjab: Congress banks on heavyweights Warring in Ludhiana, Randhawa in Gurdaspur
Former Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla shifted to Anandpur Sahib, while former MLA Kulbir Singh Zira faces tough fight in Khadoor Sahib.
The Congress on Monday announced four more Lok Sabha candidates from Punjab, fielding heavyweights, including state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring from Ludhiana and former deputy chief minister and party general secretary Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa from Gurdaspur.
The party fielded former Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla from Anandpur Sahib and former MLA Kulbir Singh Zira from Khadoor Sahib, replacing sitting MP Jasbir Singh Gill.
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The Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib, Manish Tewari, has been shifted to Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency, while Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu has joined the BJP.
With Monday’s list, the party has announced candidates for 12 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. It is yet to name its nominee from Ferozepur constituency.
The latest names were finalised at the party’s central election committee meeting held on Saturday.
In Ludhiana, Warring, a three-time MLA from Gidderbaha, is pitted against three-time MP and BJP candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu. Ironically, Warring and Bittu, who were handpicked by party leader Rahul Gandhi as they started their careers in the Youth Congress, are today pitted against each other.
A Jat Sikh, Warring had unsuccessfully contested from Bathinda in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was the transport minister in the previous Congress government. Bittu, who is the grandson of former chief minister Beant Singh of the Congress, has represented Ludhiana parliamentary constituency twice. He recently left the Congress to join the BJP.
It is learnt that Warring wanted the Bathinda ticket for his wife, Amrita, but was denied it. However, he agreed to the proposal to contest any seat of Punjab and the party decided to field him against Bittu, making it a keenly watched contest in Ludhiana. Earlier, the name of former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu was also doing the rounds for Ludhiana seat.
Warring and Bittu are also fighting AAP’s Ashok Parashar Pappi and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Ranjeet Singh Dhillon.
In Gurdaspur, where Congress surveys showed that the party has a good chance to win, the party decided to field Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. A four-time MLA, Randhawa was the deputy chief minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government and is considered close to the high command. Though the names of former minister Tripat Singh Bajwa and MLA Brindermeet Singh Pahra were considered, the party relied on Randhawa, who takes on BJP’s Dinesh Babbu, SAD’s Daljit Singh Cheema and AAP’s Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi.
Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by BJP’s Sunny Deol.
In the 2022 assembly elections, when the Aam Aadmi Party swept Punjab, Gurdaspur was the lone district where it could not perform well. The party had even asked leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa to be the candidate from Gurdaspur, but he declined, saying he was interested in state politics and would be campaigning across the state as the Punjab unit president, Warring, was also contesting from Ludhiana.
The Congress picked Singla for Anandpur Sahib, where he faces SAD’s Prem Singh Chandumajra and AAP’s Malvinder Singh Kang. The BJP is yet to name its candidate from this seat. A former MP, Singla had unsuccessfully contested from Sangrur assembly seat in the 2022 Punjab elections. He was elected to the assembly from Sangrur in 2017. He served as the PWD minister in the previous Congress government.
Though former minister Balbir Singh Sidhu was also in contention, the party preferred Singla given the sizeable Hindu population in the constituency.
Rana Gurjit Singh was also eyeing the Anandpur Sahib for his son Rana Inderpartap Singh. However, the party offered him Khadoor Sahib, which he declined after which the party fielded former MLA and Warring’s aide Kulbir Singh Zira.
With this, the party has announced 12 of the 13 seats except Ferozepur, where former MP Sher Singh Gubaya has been shortlisted, though the Congress has offered the seat to a former minister, who has joined the BJP, urging him to rejoin and contest, sources said.
Zira faces AAP’s Laljit Singh Bhullar, BJP’s Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind, SAD’s Virsa Singh Valtoha and radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is contesting as an Independent.
Punjab goes to the polls on June 1, the last round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.
