Punjab bypoll: State BJP unit sends names of ticket aspirants to party high command

The Punjab BJP on Tuesday sent names of shortlisted ticket aspirants for the upcoming bypolls in the state to the party's central election committee. A meeting to discuss the names of ticket aspirants was held in Jalanadhar district, Punjab BJP chief Shwait Malik said.

"We have sent the names of all those who have applied for the ticket," Malik said. He said the party's parliamentary board would decide on the candidates.

By-elections to the four vacant Assembly seats of Phagwara, Jalalabad, Dakha and Mukerian will be held on October 21. Out of the four seats, the SAD the will field candidates in Jalalabad and Dakha, while its ally BJP will contest in the Phagwara and Mukerian seats.

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday announced Manpreet Singh Ayali as its candidate for Dakha. From the Phagwara (reserved) seat, BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash is seeking the ticket for his wife Anita, while former Union minister Vijay Sampla wants it for his son Sahil, party sources said.

Senior BJP leader and former chairman of Punjab Scheduled Castes Commission Rajesh Bagha is also a frontrunner for this Assembly segment, they said. The Phagwara seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Som Parkash was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency in the recent general elections.

From the Mukerian seat, three BJP leaders, Arunesh Shakar, Jangi Lal Mahajan and Sangarm Singh, are in the race for the party ticket. The Mukerian Assembly segment fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Rajnish Kumar Babbi last month. PTI CHS IJT