Congress names candidates for 6 LS seats in Punjab, fields Channi from Jalandhar

Former MP Dharamvira Gandhi (72) has been declared Congress candidate from Patiala. He was elected from Patiala in 2014 Lok Sabha polls on an AAP ticket but had later parted ways with Arvind Kejriwal’s party.

Four-time Talwandi Sabo MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, who returned to the Congress fold in October last year, will contest from Bathinda.

Sitting party MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla (51) and Amar Singh (70) have been fielded from Amritsar and Fatehgarh Sahib (SC reserve) constituency, they currently represent, respectively.

Three-time Bholath MLA Khaira – who won twice on a Congress ticket (2007 and 2022) and once on an AAP ticket (2017) – has been a vocal critic of CM Mann and the ruling AAP in Punjab and will be locked in a contest from Sangrur with AAP Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) nominee Iqbal Singh Jhundan. The BJP which has so far declared candidates for six seats is yet to name its candidate for Sangrur.

Recently, Khaira spent around four months in jail in a drugs case dating back to 2015 before being bailed out in January this year. He has been terming the case against him as “a political witch hunt by the AAP government”. However, earlier in 2017-18, after winning assembly election on an AAP ticket, he had also served as Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha during the Congress government in the state. Khaira had unsuccessfully contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda as candidate of his own Punjab Ekta Party he had floated after parting ways with the AAP. He had later rejoined the Congress and won 2022 assembly polls on the party ticket.

Former Congress MLA from Dhuri Dalvir Goldy seemed unhappy over the party ticket to Khaira from Sangrur and put out a verse in a post on X which pointed to his resentment. Goldy was among the contenders for the Congress ticket from Sangrur. Dhuri is one of the assembly segments in Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.

In Jalandhar where the Congress has declared former CM Channi as the party candidate, sitting MP Sushil Kumar Rinku is the BJP candidate. The AAP and the Akali Dal are yet to announce candidates for this seat.

Rinku had won on an AAP ticket in last year’s Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, which was necessitated following the demise of Congress MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh.

Channi had already been in a poll-mode in Jalandhar, much to the resentment of Chaudhary’s son and Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary who had been terming Channi an “outsider” in the constituency. Channi, the then chief ministerial face of the Congress, had contested 2022 Punjab elections from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, but had lost both. Earlier, Channi had won MLA elections from Chamkaur Sahib thrice, once as Independent (in 2007) and twice on a Congress ticket (2012 and 2017).

The Congress bet on Channi from the Jalandhar (SC) seat despite opposition from Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary. A few days ago, Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary even resigned as the party’s chief whip in the Punjab Assembly. Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary had pointed towards Channi’s electoral defeats from both the Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur segments he had contested in the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls. Chaudhary Santokh Singh died in January last year during Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
His wife Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary had unsuccessfully contested the Jalandhar parliamentary bypoll in May last year. Channi belongs to the Scheduled Caste community which makes up nearly 32% of Punjab’s population. Channi became the CM of Punjab in 2021 after the Congress replaced Amarinder Singh with him.

Dharamvira Gandhi who recently joined the Congress had won from Patiala Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 polls on an AAP ticket, defeating sitting MP Preneet Kaur, who was then with the Congress. The BJP has fielded Preneet Kaur from Patiala after she joined the saffron party last month. Cabinet Minister Balbir Singh is AAP candidate from the constituency, while the Akali Dal has announced N K Sharma as its candidate from Patiala. Gandhi is a cardiologist by profession. Gandhi had lost to Kaur in 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Patiala when he had floated his own Nawan Punjab Party.

Congress’ candidate from Bathinda Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu (60) had returned to the party fold last year from the Akali Dal. He had won the assembly elections from Talwandi Sabo in 2002 (Independent) and twice on a Congress ticket in 2007 and 2012 polls. He subsequently quit the Congress to join the Akali Dal and was reelected from Talwandi Sabo in 2014 (bypoll) on an Akali Dal ticket. He lost 2017 and 2022 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections while contesting as an Akali Dal candidate. Amrita Warring, wife of Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, was also among the aspirants for ticket from Bathinda.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s wife and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the sitting MP from Bathinda. Akali Dal is yet to formally declare the party candidate from the constituency. The AAP has fielded Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian from Bathinda. The BJP is yet to declare its candidate from Bathinda even as former IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu, who recently joined the BJP after resigning from service, is likely to be considered (as the BJP candidate) from the constituency. Parampal is the daughter-in-law of senior Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka.

Sitting MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla who has been declared the Congress candidate from Amritsar is a two-time MP. He was first elected from the constituency in 2017 bypoll. The seat had fallen vacant after then Congress MP from Amritsar Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the Lok Sabha alleging “injustice” to the people of Punjab following a Supreme Court verdict on Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue. Aujla was reelected from Amritsar in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP has fielded former Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, while the Akali Dal has declared former Punjab minister Anil Joshi as the party candidate from this seat. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhailwal is the AAP candidate from Amritsar.

Congress’ candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib, Amar Singh, a retired bureaucrat, was elected from the constituency in the last parliamentary polls on a Congress ticket. As bureaucrat he served as Food Corporation of India chairman and managing director, joint secretary at Centre and principal secretary in Madhya Pradesh, among other postings. The AAP has fielded Gurpreet Singh GP from this seat. Gurpreet last month had quit the Congress to join the AAP. The Akali Dal has announced former MLA Bikramjit Singh Khalsa as its candidate from this seat. The BJP is yet to declare its candidate from this seat.

Polling on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state will take place in the last phase on June 1.

Meanwhile, the Congress announced former SP leader Ujjwal Raman Singh from Allahabad Lok Sabha seat. The 51-year-old son of veteran leader Reoti Raman Singh, Ujjwal had recently joined the Congress after quitting SP.

With inputs from MAULSHREE SETH in Lucknow