The BJP on Monday offloaded its septuagenarian leaders from its list for the Punjab Assembly elections on February 4.
With just two days remaining for filing the nomination papers, the BJP on Monday released its second list of the six remaining candidates for the State polls, including the two Cabinet Ministers and two sitting legislators.
The party has dropped its senior-most leaders — Madan Mohan Mittal and Chunni lal Bhagat — as its candidates for the crucial State polls.
While Bhagat’s son, Mahender Bhagat, will be stepping in his father’s shoe to represent the BJP in Jalandhar West constituency, Mittal’s son will not get a chance, at least in this election.
The firebrand leader, Mittal, has been replaced with Ropar District Planning Board chairman Dr Parminder Sharma to contest from Anandpur Sahib. Sources informed The Pioneer that Mittal has been replaced owing to his bad and controversial image.
Both Mittal and Bhagat, part of Parkash Singh Badal’s Cabinet, were expected to lose their seats for being 75-plus. The BJP has set a strict age-limit criteria proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wherein leaders above 75 years of age should not be give party ticket. The formula was adopted during Maharashtra polls.
Knowing the same, both Mittal and Bhagat have been proposing that their seats — Anandpur Sahib and Jalandhar West — be transferred to their sons, in which Mittal failed.
Once again laying their bet on its previous candidates, the BJP chose its two remaining Cabinet Ministers — Anil Joshi from Amritsar North and Surjit Kumar Jyani from Fazilka, other than Manornajan Kaila from Jalandhar Central and Som Parkash from Phagwara — to defend their seats this election too.
It has been learnt that former Minister Kalia was reluctant to contest fearing strong anti-incumbency against the ruling regime.
Party’s State unit president and Union Minister Vijay Sampla is apparently unhappy over giving ticket to Som Parkash from Phagwara and Bhagat’s son.
Considering his differences with Som Parkash, he was opposing his candidature and was in favour of fielding a new face.
In the first list, the saffron brigade refused to take along its four ministers as the poll panel failed to arrive on consensus on the names on six seats, including four belonging to the State Cabinet Ministers.
The party had retained five of its sitting MlAs, including two female legislators, in the first list of 17 candidates. Besides, the party also stick to the seven candidates it fielded during 2012 state assembly polls.
Out of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly, the BJP will contest 23 while its ally, Shiromani Akali Dal, will fight in the remaining 94 seats. The SAD-BJP alliance is facing anti-incumbency sentiments in the state where Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as a significant player. Punjab will go to polls on February 4.