Amarinder's Punjab Lok Congress releases first list of 22 candidates

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 23

Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) candidates from 22 constituencies for the February 20 polls to the state Assembly, with clear focus on winnability while ensuring due representation across regions and various sections.

PLC has currently got 37 of the 117 seats in the state as part of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and SAD (Sanyukt), with discussions still in progress on possibly another five seats for the party.

Of the 37 seats in the PLC kitty, the maximum of 26 are from Malwa region. The PLC’s share in seat allocation for Majha region currently stands at seven, while Doaba region accounts for four seats.

Releasing the first list of nominees, the PLC leader said all these candidates had strong political credentials and were known faces in their respective constituencies. There is one woman in the first list. Farzana Alam Khan, a former SAD MLA and wife of late DGP Izhar Alam Khan, will contest from Malerkotla

Besides Amarinder, there are eight other Jat Sikhs in the list. Four of the candidates belong to the SC community, three to OBC community, while five are Hindu faces.

In addition to Amarinder and Farzana Alam, another key candidate from Malwa is the current Patiala mayor, Sanjeev Sharma, who will contest the Patiala rural seat.

Kamaldeep Saini is the candidate from Kharar, while Jagmohan Sharma will contest from Ludhiana east. The Ludhiana south seat will be represented by Satinderpal Singh Tajpuri.

Prem Mittal will contest from Atamnagar, while Damanjeet Singh Mohi will fight from Dakha.

A popular Dalit face and a retired PPS officer, Mukhtiar Singh, has been nominated from the reserved constituency of Nihalsingh Wala. The Dharamkot seat ticket has gone to Ravinder Singh Garewal. Amarjeet Sharma has been pitched from Rampura Phul.

Raj Nambardar, a prominent Hindu face from Bathinda, will contest the polls from Bathinda urban. Bathinda Rural will be represented by Sawera Singh.

The PLC candidate from another reserved seat, Budhalada, is Subedar Bhola Singh Hasanpur. Dharam Singh Fauji has been selected as the PLC candidate from Bhadaur (SC).

The Sanaur seat will be contested by Bikramjit Inder Singh Chahal, son of Amarinder’s close associate and advisor BIS Chahal, with the Samana candidature going to Surinder Singh Kherki.

In Majha region, Tejinder Singh Randhawa is the candidate for Fatehgarh Churrian, while Harjinder Singh Thekedar will fight the Amrtisar south seat.

The first list of candidates from Doaba region includes Amandeep Singh from Bholath, former Indian hockey captain Ajitpal Singh from Nakodar and Satvir Singh Palli Jhikki from Nawanshahr.

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