Gurdaspur will once again witness the battle between yesteryear superstar Vinod Khanna and Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa. The two leaders were pitted against each other in 2009 lok Sabha polls.
Khanna’s name has been cleared by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election campaign committee on Monday, giving another chance to its three-time MP. Khanna, who had won the Gurdaspur seat thrice — in 1998, 1999, and 2004 lok Sabha polls, lost to Congress candidate Bajwa in 2009 elections by a thin margin of 8,342 votes.
Bollywood superhero Khanna had earlier shown an inclination to contest the seat, but was later joined the race for the party ticket after the BJP announced Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.
Moreover, BJP stalwart and former deputy Prime Minister lal Krishna Advani was in favour of giving another chance to Khanna. Though a large section of party leaders were in favour of fielding Khanna from the seat he won for the party in three consecutive polls, another section believed that he should be replaced in the wake of the reports that Congress sitting MP Bajwa is reluctant to contest the polls.
In the light of the same, the name of Mumbai-based industrialist Swaran Salaria was floated in the party circles. It is believed that Salaria may outdo Khanna in the race for Gurdaspur seat.
The BJP has withheld its candidate for the Gurdaspur seat giving rise to speculations that Salaria may get the ticket for his work during 2012 State Assembly polls who was made the in charge of four constituencies — Bhoa, Sujanpur, Pathankot and Dinanagar — and bagged three for the party.
The saffron party contest on three seats — Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, and Amritsar, out the total 13 in Punjab, in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). With the announcement of Khanna’s name for the seat, all the candidates of the SAD-BJP combine have been declared while the Congress is still juggling between the names and yet to field its candidates on the three seats.