The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released the first list of candidates that are going to be in the fray in the 2017 Punjab Assembly election. Senior lawyers HS Phoolka and Himmat Singh Shergill figure in the list of 19 candidates.
Amongst others, the list covered age ambit from 25 to 60, and has six graduates, four advocates, a doctor, a diploma-holder, and three matriculates, besides four Class-12 passouts.
The youngest, 25-year-old, contenders include president and vice- president of the AAP youth wing, Harjot Singh Bains from Sahnewal and Samar Bir Singh Sidhu from Fazilka, respectively. While Bains is a law graduate, Sidhu is a farmer who has studied up to Class 12.
The only woman candidate, Rupinder Kaur, 28, from Bathinda (rural) is currently pursuing PhD in law and completes the under-30 trio.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)Â MP Mohan Singh, a Dalit face, who had joined the AAP in June, will contest from Ferozepur rural.
HS Poolkha, who had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha polls from Ludhiana on an AAP ticket, will be a party candidate from Dakha. The senior lawyer had led a campaign to get justice for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims and could be a strong contender for being projected as the party’s chief ministerial face.
Shergill will contest from SAS Nagar Mohali. He had also unsuccessfully contested on AAP ticket from Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.
Below is the list tweeted by the party’s official Twitter handle:
- HS Phoolka Dakha
- Himmat Singh Shergill Mohali
- Ahbab Singh Grewal Ludhiana West
- Sajjan Singh Cheema Sultanpur Lodhi
- Inderbir Singh Nijjer Amritsar South
- Mohan Singh Phalianwala Ferozepur Rural
- Samarbir Singh Sidhu Fazilka
- Rajpreet Singh Randhawa Ajnala
- Jagdip Singh Brar Muktsar
- Gurdit Singh Sekhon Faridkot
- Brigadier Raj Kumar Balachaur
- Gurwinder Singh Shampura Fatehgarh Churian
- Gurpreet Singh Lapran Payal
- Rupinder Kaur Ruby Bathinda Rural
- Jasvir Singh Sekhon Jassi Dhuri
- Amarjit Singh Roopnagar
- Santokh Singh Salana Bassi Pathana
- Kultar Singh Sandhwan Kotkapura
- Harjit Singh Bains Sahnewal
Interestingly, the list was announced in the absence of Kejriwal, who is on a vipassana sojourn. AAP’s Punjab co-convenor Durgesh Pathak is also away, attending a vipassana course.
The party intends to replicate the Delhi story in Punjab.
When it contested its maiden election in the national capital in 2013, AAP had declared candidates way before the polling schedules were announced. According to a party leader, this gives the party an edge over others in terms of campaigning.