After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Savita Bhatti withdrew her candidature from Chandigarh, the AAP is likely to field actress Gul Panag to contest elections from Chandigarh parliamentary seat.
Panag and her father lt Gen Panag (retd) joined the party in February. lt Gen Panag is a decorated Army officer and has been working as an activist for a long time. AAP had also asked lt Gen Panag to contest elections but he had refused to contest the polls. Rajeev Godara, Central observer for Chandigarh said, “The name of Gul Panag is being considered by the party. She is likely to be fielded from Chandigarh parliamentary seat by the AAP. The political affairs committee (PAC) of the AAP is likely to announce candidate’s name by Tuesday night or Wednesday.”
Earlier, Savita Bhatti opted out as she was not feeling comfortable being the part of political arena. After the announcement of Savita’s name as AAP candidate from Chandigarh on March 1, a number of the AAP local leaders had distanced themselves from her campaign. Some leaders had also sent emails against her to the party high command. More than 200 people had applied for the Chandigarh ticket, including professionals, businessmen and government employees willing to resign and join politics. Of them, 31 were shortlisted and several were called for interviews in Delhi, but none of them was selected.
The names of city-based businessman Naresh Garg Bobby, a Chicago-based NRI Dr Munish Raizada, and another businessman HK Arora are also doing the rounds for the AAP candidate from Chandigarh.