The Aam Aadmi Party has declared its list of candidates for eight out of 13 seats in Punjab. The party has deployed as many as five sitting ministers of the Punjab government to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
Here are five key takeaways from the party's list.
Five Punjab Ministers Fielded
The five ministers fielded by AAP are:
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal: Amritsar
Laljit Singh Bhullar: Khadoor Sahib
Gurmeet Singh Khuddian: Bathinda
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer: Sangrur
Dr Balbir Singh: Patiala
What's the reason behind choosing as many as five ministers?
Being a relatively new party, AAP doesn't have strong locally entrenched leaders like the Congress or the Shiromani Akali Dal especially outside the Malwa region.
"Ministers are the faces for the implementation of AAP's key welfare schemes and projects. This makes them good choices in their respective areas," an AAP Punjab office bearer told The Quint.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, for instance, is a two-term MLA from Barnala and has been AAP's best known face in Barnala district even before becoming a minister.
Comic Actor Karamjit Anmol Fielded From Faridkot
AAP has fielded comic actor Karamjit Anmol from the Faridkot seat. Anmol is a known face in Punjabi cinema and has acted in popular films like the Carry On Jatta and Manje Bistre franchises. Most recently he starred in the historical drama film Mastaney that was a huge success at the box office.
Reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste category, Faridkot is presently represented by Congress MP Mohammad Sadiq, who is himself a popular Punjabi folk singer and has also starred in Punjabi films.
However, there is speculation that Congress will choose a different candidate this time as Sadiq, 82, may not contest due to his age.
After Defeating Parkash Singh Badal, Khuddian to Take On Harsimrat Kaur
One of the most important picks in AAP's candidate list is Gurmeet Singh Khuddian from Bathinda. In all likelihood, he will be taking on former minister Harsimrat Kaur of the Shiromani Akali Dal who has represented the seat since 2009.
Bathinda has been an SAD bastion. The party has won the seat consistently since 1996, except for one defeat in 1999.
Khuddian's candidature is significant as he had defeated Akali patriarch and five-time CM Parkash Singh Badal in the 2022 Assembly elections from the Badal family bastion Lambi in Sri Muktsar Sahib district.
This makes Khuddian a strong contender against Badal's daughter-in-law.
The MLA has a tragic backstory.
Khuddian's father, Jagdev Singh Khuddian, was elected as Member of Parliament from Faridkot on a Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) ticket.
In December 28, 1989 Khuddian disappeared from his home in Khuddian village and six days later his body was found in the Rajasthan Feeder Canal.
Two Recent Entrants from Congress Fielded
In two of the seats - Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib - AAP has fielded leaders who were earlier with the Congress.
The party has renominated sitting MP Sushil Kumar Rinku from Jalandhar. Rinku, a former Congress MLA, joined AAP just before the by-election to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat in 2023. He won the seat, defeating the Congress candidate, Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, widow of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary whose death had necessitated the bypoll.
The Congress is likely to put up a different candidate this time. With a sizable Dalit and Hindu population, Jalandhar had been a Congress bastion until the 2023 bypoll defeat. The Congress is likely to field a strong candidate in Jalandhar and the name of former CM Charanjit Channi is doing the rounds as a probable.
In Fatehgarh Sahib, AAP has fielded Gurpreet Singh GP, former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana. He joined AAP only last week.
The sitting Congress MP from Fatehgarh Sahib is Dr Amar Singh, a former bureaucrat who is one of the Punjab Congress' most prominent voices in Parliament.
Other Battles to Watch Out For
AAP has fielded minister Laljit Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib. He is likely to be up against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is also Harsimrat Kaur's brother. Majithia has been preparing for the Khadoor Sahib seat, even though his base Majitha is in Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.
This is mainly because Khadoor Sahib is a far more Sikh dominated seat compared to Amritsar and SAD is competitive in the seat with or without the BJP.
Bhullar is the MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran district and he had defeated Parkash Singh Badal's son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon in the 2022 elections.
It is not clear if the Congress will field sitting MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa in the seat again.
In Amritsar, AAP has fielded minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who is the sitting MLA from Ajnala. There is speculation that the BJP will field former Ambassador to the US Tarnjit Singh Sandhu from the seat. The sitting MP from the seat is Gurjeet Singh Aujla of the Congress.
AAP is yet to declare the candidates in five seats: Anandpur Sahib, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Ferozepur.
Congress, SAD, BJP and BSP are yet to declare their candidates in all 13 seats.
It is interesting that AAP has fielded two former Congressmen and two leaders who have defeated Badal family members. It reflects the party's long-term desire to show itself as the main challenger to the Badals and to occupy the Congress' space.
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