BJP releases first list of 34 candidates for Punjab polls

New Delhi:  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its first list of 34 candidates for the upcoming Punjab assembly polls.

Union Minister and BJP state election co-incharge Hardeep Singh Puri, general secretaries Tarun Chugh and Dushyant Gautam released the first list for Punjab assembly polls to be held on February 20.

Chugh said that names include 12 candidates from farmers’ families, eight from Scheduled Caste (SC) community and 13 Sikhs.

“We have given tickets to doctors, lawyers, people related to religious organisations, sportspersons and all other sections of society,” Chugh said.

The list includes two women candidates Renu Kashyup from Dina Nagar and Nimisha Mehta from Garhshankar.

Kabbadi player Ranjit Singh Khojewala has been fielded from Kapurthala assembly seat.

Retired IAS officer SR Laddhar has been fielded from Gill assembly constituency.

Gautam hit out at the Congress government in the Punjab over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security breach and said: “The Punjab government did not even care about the dignity of the post of Prime Minister of the country. January 5 incident in Ferozepur shows that the security arrangements of the Prime Minister are not important for Congress government in Punjab.”

Gautam also slammed the Punjab government for corruption and mis-governance and problem of drug addiction and said no progress has been made in Punjab.

Referring to the recent raid by the ED, Gautam said: “It must be investigated how Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi managed to amass such wealth in just three months.”

The BJP is jointly contesting the Punjab assembly election with former chief minister Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).

The three parties have formed a six-member committee, two each from three parties to decide the seat sharing formula.

The three parties will also make a common manifesto. Polling for 117 seats of Punjab assembly will be held on February 20 and counting of votes will take place on March 10.

IANS