For Chandigarh, BJP may field parachute LS candidate — film actor or sportsperson

The Union Territory (UT) will be voting on June 1 on the last phase of Lok Sabha election, results of which will be announced on June 4. The ticket for Chandigarh is yet to be announced by all the three major parties – BJP, Congress and AAP.

Chandigarh BJP’s former president Sanjay Tandon, ex-mayor Arun Sood, former MP and leader Satya Pal Jain were pitching in strongly for their candidatures, insisting that a local candidate should be given a chance this year.

“However, there has been a feedback that if a local face is fielded, there may be internal sabotage and the other group within the party itself may not let him win. So, those from outside are being considered too as Kirron was sent in 2014 and 2019 Lok sabha polls too,” a senior BJP leader said.

The leader added that a “senior” Bollywood actor and two sportspersons were also approached for contesting the elections. “In consideration were a senior Bollywood actor and two sportspersons as they were also reached out but the sportspersons, I am told, have refused,” the BJP leader said.

The possibility of Kher being repeated was also discussed but she did not get a “positive feedback” from the local workers of the BJP. “Like actor Hema Malini has been repeated for the third time from Mathura, there were discussions if Kher is being repeated from Chandigarh. However, local workers within the party have not submitted a positive feedback and fielding the same candidate could lead Congress’s win. Though it is yet to be finally discussed,” the saffron party leader said.

Surprisingly, in the list suggested by the BJP Chandigarh, Kher’s name was not mentioned, while that of Tandon, Sood were present.
When AAP dented Congress’s share

The AAP dented vote bank of Chandigarh Congress in the last few years especially on its debut in general election 2014 and now this 2024 Lok Sabha polls will see the the two supporting each other – a hope for Congress to clinch back the seat it used to win consistently.
In 2014, the AAP declared Gul Panag as it’s candidate from Chandigarh, who managed to secure an encouraging number of votes – 1.08 lakh, while Congress’s Pawan Bansal got 1.21 lakh votes. Kher, who was contesting for the first time in 2014 for BJP, secured 1.91 lakh votes to claim the Chandigarh constituency.

The vote share suggests that in 2014, the BJP had got 42.2 per cent of the votes polled while the Congress managed 26.8 per cent. Then new entrant AAP managed to get respectable 24 per cent votes. The AAP’s gain was Congress’s loss as the party’s share dipped considerably down from 46.7 per cent in 2009 polls to 26.8 per cent.

However, in 2019, AAP’s vote share came down significantly to just 3 per cent while Congress’s vote share rose to 40.35 per cent. In 2019, Congress’s Bansal lost to Kher with a margin of 46,970 votes.

Both Congress and AAP are likely to contest the LS polls this year together with both parties set to support the grand old party’s candidate. An arrangement from both the parties ensured AAP’s victory for the seat of mayor and now Congress is hoping to reclaim the Chandigarh seat with AAP’s backing.

“The 2014 polls saw AAP denting a major vote bank of Congress because till date Chandigarh has seen a contest majorly between Congress and BJP. Though AAP’s vote share reduced in 2019 polls, the party bounced back in Municipal Corporation polls after reducing BJP’s seat share in civic body which means people in Chandigarh are really wanting change now,” a senior Congress leader said.