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Sangrur LS bypoll: Congress picks Goldy, BJP fields Dhillon
Battle lines have been drawn for the Sangrur LS bypoll in Punjab with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress finalising the names of their candidates on Sunday
Battle lines have been drawn for the Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection in Punjab with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress finalising the names of their candidates on Sunday.
The Congress has picked former MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy for the June 23 bypoll while the BJP has fielded former MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon, who joined the party on Saturday.
Goldy, 39, is a former MLA from the Dhuri assembly seat, which he won in 2017. He, however, lost it to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate and present chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann in the recently held state elections.
“I will file my nomination papers at 11.30 am on Monday and give it my best shot,” said Goldy, who is a former president of the Panjab University Campus Students’ Council.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that Goldy is a young, self-made leader who has risen from the ranks. “His nomination is in line with the party’s strategy of bringing forward youth leaders. I will go to Sangrur on Monday and will camp there till June 21,” he said.
Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary and other party leaders are expected to accompany the party nominee for the filing of nomination papers.
Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to field Kewal Dhillon, 72, a day after he joined the party in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, though there was no formal announcement of his name till late in the evening.
“His (Dhillon’s) name has been finalised by the party leadership. He will file his nomination papers on Monday. The announcement of his candidature is merely a formality,” said BJP’s state general secretary Subhash Sharma.
A businessman-turned-politician, Dhillon is a two-time former MLA from Barnala, which he won on the Congress ticket in 2007 and 2012. He had unsuccessfully contested from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in 2019, trailing behind Mann and managing to get 28% of the votes polled. Dhillon was denied the Congress ticket from Barnala in the 2022 state polls, and was later expelled from the party on February 17 for alleged anti-party activities.
The Sangrur parliamentary seat fell vacant after Mann resigned from the Lok Sabha on getting elected to the state assembly and taking over as the CM. With the Congress and the BJP naming their candidates, the lineup is clear. The AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have already named Gurmail Singh and Kamaldeep Kaur, respectively, as their candidates.
A CM’s confidant, Gurmail, 38, is the sarpanch of Gharachon village and in-charge of the AAP’s Sangrur district unit. Kamaldeep, 46, is the sister of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana. SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann, 77, is also contesting and has already filed his nomination papers.
