TPS Sidhu quits IAS, named Akali candidate from Mohali

SAD chief and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal announced Sidhu’s name as the party candidate from Mohali, a party spokesman said here on Tuesday. Sidhu, a former bureaucrat who also served as deputy commissioner of Mohali, is the son-in-law of Akali heavyweight and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

A day after he quit as the secretary of the Punjab Mandi Board, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday announced Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu as the party’s candidate from Mohali for the assembly election.

TPS Sidhu (HT File Photo)

Sidhu remained the Mohali deputy commissioner for around three years from early 2013 to February 2016 and is son-in-law of senior Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

Sidhu, 59, a former army officer, was selected to the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) in 1989. He was elevated to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2012 and was allotted the 2004 batch.

During this stint as the Mohali DC, he attempted to become a familiar face among the electorate of the urban Mohali segment where Parkash Singh Badal government pumped in funds in plenty to upgrade infrastructure.

He is pitted against Congress candidate and three-time MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu and AAP candidate Narinder Singh Shergill.