Akalis bank on Harsimrat to bag Bathinda, field new face from Ferozepur

With this, the SAD so far announced candidates for 12 parliamentary constituencies of Anandpur Sahib, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Faridkot, Sangrur, Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala, while the candidate for the Khadoor Sahib constituency would be announced soon, party sources said.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the names of candidates in Jalandhar, where Kaypee, former Punjab Congress chief, joined the Akali Dal on Monday and was declared a candidate soon after.

“I’m sure all party candidates will do the Akali Dal proud. I wish them all success,” Badal posted on X.

Harsimrat, 57, the sitting Bathinda MP and the wife of Sukhbir, will be contesting for the fourth consecutive term in the Lok Sabha. She made a hat-trick by winning Bathinda in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She served as a Union minister from 2014-2019 and from June 2019 to September 2020 and resigned during the protest over the three farm bills presented by the BJP in parliament.

Rumours were rife that Harsimrat would be contesting from Ferozepur and Sukhbir Badal from Bathinda, but Harsimrat, who has been very active in the constituency, has been fielded from Bathinda. Soon after the declaration of her name, she paid obeisance at Talwandi Sabo.

“I have been serving as a Member of Parliament of the Bathinda Lok Sabha for the past 15 years because of all your prayers and love. This time again, I have got an opportunity to serve my people of the Bathinda constituency,” Harsimrat said.

Ranjit Singh Dhillon, 58, the SAD Ludhiana district president, was the Ludhiana East MLA from 2012-17, but he lost to Congress’s Sanjay Talwar in 2017. This will be his first attempt in the Lok Sabha election that too from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency.

He has been pitted against BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu and AAP’s Ashok Prasher Pappi. The Congress is yet to announce its candidate. Hours before his candidature was announced, Dhillon posted on Facebook, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

Nardev Singh Bobby Mann is the SAD candidate from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency of which Sukhbir is the sitting MP.

Mann is the younger son of three-time SAD MP from Ferozepur Zora Singh Mann. His elder brother Vardev Singh Noni Mann had unsuccessfully contested the Vidhan Sabha elections twice from Guru-Har-Sahai in 2017 and 2022, while for Bobby, it will be his first election.

The choice of Nardev Mann surprised locals as Mann had never contested an election. In 2016, rumours were rife that he would join the BJP but it did not happen.

Mann’s family has been in the news for the past several weeks after the Punjab government cancelled the NoC of his family-backed private school Mata Gujri Public School in Jalalabad.

Hardeep Singh Saini Buttrela is the sitting Councillor of Ward No. 30 of the Chandigarh Municipal Council and former senior deputy mayor. He is the president of the SAD Chandigarh unit. Hours before he was declared as a candidate, Saini posted on X, “Akali Dal will solve every problem of Chandigarh”

Former Congress president and an MP from Jalandhar (2009), 67-year-old Mohinder Singh Kaypee joined the SAD on Monday morning and was declared a candidate by the evening. He has been in touch with the Akali Dal since the Congress denied him a ticket. In Jalandhar, Kaypee will be pitted against Congress’ Charanjit Singh Channi, AAP’s Pawan Kumar Tinu and BJP’s Sushil Rinku.

Former SAD MLA from the Chabbewal constituency (2012-17), Sohan Singh Thandal, 69, was a Punjab minister of jails, tourism and culture. This will be his first attempt to contest a Lok Sabha poll.

The polling for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the lone Chandigarh seat will take place in the last phase on June 1.