Monday turned out to be “the day” for candidates hoping to make it big during the February 20 Punjab assembly polls. More than 50 percent of the total nomination papers filed, so far, were submitted on Monday — the second last day to file the nominations. On an average, the day saw nearly 26-27 candidates filing their papers every hour in the State.
As per the information till the filing of this report, a total of 638 nominations were filed on the day, taking the total number to 1257. Tuesday, February 1, is the last day to file nominations for the ensuing polls.
The political bigwigs, who chose Monday, included the Badals — Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi, Sukhbir Singh Badal from Jalalabad with Harsimrat Kaur Badal as his covering candidate; Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Bhadaur, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh from Patiala urban, among others.
Interestingly, all the candidates of the Samyukta Sanjha Morcha (SSM) had collectively decided to file their papers on Monday. Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjit Singh also filed his papers from Kapurthala; former Union Minister and BJP leader Vijay Sampla also filed nominations from Phagwara; Punjabi singer-cum-Congress candidate from Mansa Sidhu Moosewala filed his papers from Mansa; former Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot from Nabha; and also, Congress’ sitting MLA turned rebel Angad Saini from Nawanshar.
All the prominent contenders from Mohali — former Minister and Congress nominee Balbir Singh Sidhu, Aam Aadmi Party’s Kulwant Singh, and SSM’s Ravneet Singh Brar — also filed their papers on Monday.
For former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder, who filed his nomination papers from his stronghold Patiala, the elections are going to be a battle for prestige. Leading the Congress party to resounding victory in 2017, Capt Amarinder this time is fighting as its rival, and has floated a new political outfit, Punjab Lok Congress, which has tied up with the BJP to make a mark in the hustings. Even as Capt Amarinder is fighting this election as a second fiddle to the BJP, he is confident that he still has the political gumption left in him to take on his political rivals.
Interestingly, as per the declaration made in the affidavit, SAD chief Sukhbir does not own any car, but has horses worth Rs 95.82 lakh, two weapons valued at Rs three lakh and immovable properties worth Rs 52.95 crore, with total assets of Rs 122.77 crore.