Lok Sabha election: Punjab Democratic Alliance picks Simarjeet Bains from Ludhiana

The announcement was made on Friday by chief patron of LIP and Ludhiana South MLA Balwinder Singh Bains, who is also Simarjeet’s elder brother.

President of Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) and Atam Nagar MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains is the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate from Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat.

LIP leaders Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains with their mother Kashmir Kaur in Ludhiana on Friday. (HT Photo)

The announcement was made on Friday by chief patron of LIP and Ludhiana South MLA Balwinder Singh Bains, who is also Simarjeet’s elder brother. Of the four seats allocated to Lok Insaaf Party by the PDA, the LIP has now announced candidates from Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana and the nominee for the Amritsar seat will be declared in two days, said Balwinder.

This will be the second time that Simarjeet will take on sitting MP Ravneet Singh Bittu of the Congress. Last time in 2014, Bittu had won the elections and Simarjeet, who fought as an Independent, bagged the fourth spot. He was polled 2,10,917 votes. After his name was announced, Simarjeet took blessings of his mother Kashmir Kaur and then paid obeisance at a gurdwara and a temple.

This time, under the umbrella of PDA, Simarjeet has support of the constituents, including Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPI and the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI).

Simarjeet said their aim was to rid the state of corruption, mafia raj and drugs (chitta). First elected as a councillor in 2002, Simarjeet is representing Ludhiana Atam nagar as an MLA for the second term.