New Delhi: With Punjab headed for a triangular Assembly elections, for the first time between Akali Dal-BJP combine, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, the political groupings — except AAP — will have to act fast to finalise their list of candidates.
Punjab goes to polls on February 4, which gives major players like the Congress and Akali-BJP much less time to release its entire list for 117 Assembly segments.
While the Congress is yet to finalise candidates for 40 seats, the BJP has not announced even a single candidate for 23 segments and Akalis have declared candidates for only 84 of the 94 Assembly seats. So far, AAP seems to enjoy an early mover advantage as it declared its first list way back in August 2016 itself.
Besides, the Congress is yet to finalise on future of former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. While the former cricketer’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who has formally joined the party, is expected to contest from Amritsar East, it is believed her husband wants ticket for the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, a seat vacated by the state Congress chief and chief ministerial candidate Capt. Amarinder Singh.
