Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
India

After Vinod Khanna's Demise, Gurdaspur LS Seat Heads For Congress-BJP Tussle

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Aug, 2017 02:23 PM
    With the Election Commission (EC) likely to announce anytime now the date for the by-election to the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, which fell vacant in April following the passing away of veteran actor Vinod Khanna due to cancer, it could be a tough fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the state's ruling Congress -- with the AAP playing the spoiler.
     
     
     
    The BJP, which is the party in power at the centre, has made the first move by announcing the appointment of poll in-charges for the nine assembly constituencies falling under the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat that Khanna held from 1998 to 2004 and then from 2014 till his demise.
     
     
     
    "Punjab BJP president (and union minister) Vijay Sampla has asked all the poll incharges to rush to their respective constituencies and start working towards the victory of the BJP in the forthcoming LS bypoll," BJP state secretary Vineet Joshi told IANS.
     
     
     
    The Congress, fresh from its emphatic win in the Punjab assembly elections in March, cannot easily let the seat, which it held from 2009 to 2014, go back to the BJP easily. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will have a lot riding on this bypoll, especially after the Congress won the by-election in the neighbouring Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, which Amarinder had quit in last November, in March.
     
     
     
     
     
    The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which made its presence felt in the assembly polls and emerged and the single largest party with 20 seats in the 117-member house, is also likely to field its own candidate. The ascendance of the AAP could be a spoiler for the plans of the BJP, which has an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, and the Congress for a direct fight.
     
     
    As of now, none of the parties have any big name that is sure to be fielded for the by-election. While several aspirants in all three parties are vying to get the respective party tickets, the race will intensify after the poll panel announces the election date.
     
     
    In the BJP, Vinod Khanna's widow, Kavita Khanna, who has looked after the constituency during his hospitalisation and absence from the constituency, is a claimant for the seat. Mumbai-based millionaire businessman Swaran Salaria, who has tried for the ticket on this seat earlier also, is again in contention. Other names being mentioned in BJP circles are that of party legislator Dinesh Singh Babbu and former state BJP president Ashwini Sharma.
     
     
     
     
    In the Congress, the names doing rounds are that of a family member of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa, legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Ashwini Sekhri and former Union Minister Ashwini Kumar.
     
     
    Amarinder Singh, who led the party to victory in the assembly polls after being out of power for a decade, is likely to have a big say in the selection of the Congress candidate.
     
     
    Khanna, a Punjabi who was born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan), remained popular in the constituency despite accusations from his opponents that he remained absent from the area most of the time. He had stormed the Congress bastion on his electoral debut in 1998, defeating five-time Congress MP Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Punjab Assembly Session Begins, Badals Absent

    Punjab Assembly Session Begins, Badals Absent
    Protem Speaker Rana K.P. Singh said that 115 of the 117 legislators took oath on Friday.

    Punjab Assembly Session Begins, Badals Absent

    Sushma Swaraj Exposes Concocted Story Of 'Kidnapped' Indian In Serbia

    Sushma Swaraj Exposes Concocted Story Of 'Kidnapped' Indian In Serbia
    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday exposed a concocted story of an Indian "kidnapped" in the central European nation of Serbia, saying it was a stage-managed act.

    Sushma Swaraj Exposes Concocted Story Of 'Kidnapped' Indian In Serbia

    Indra Nooyi, Fareed Zakaria Among Ellis Island Honor Recipients

    PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and well-known journalist-author Fareed Zakaria are among six Indian-Americans named for this years Ellis Island Medals of Honor for accomplishments in their respective fields.

    Indra Nooyi, Fareed Zakaria Among Ellis Island Honor Recipients

    Officials remove 'Aam Aadmi' words from Delhi government schemes, cover Kejriwal's photos too

    Ahead of the April 23 municipal elections in the national capital, the Delhi Election Commission directed that the government in the capital remove the words "Aam" from all forms of display of its schemes. 

    Officials remove 'Aam Aadmi' words from Delhi government schemes, cover Kejriwal's photos too

    Yogi's Surprise Guests: Mulayam's Daughter-in-Law, BSP Leader

    Aparna Yadav, who unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from the Lucknow Cantt seat, is Mulayam's younger daughter-in-law.

    Yogi's Surprise Guests: Mulayam's Daughter-in-Law, BSP Leader

    UP Women Cops Take Selfies With Gang-Raped Woman Who Was Made To Drink Acid

    UP Women Cops Take Selfies With Gang-Raped Woman Who Was Made To Drink Acid
    A 45-year-old woman was allegedly forced to drink acid on a train, but her misery did not end there as three women constables of the Uttar Pradesh police then took selfies with the victim, which went viral.

    UP Women Cops Take Selfies With Gang-Raped Woman Who Was Made To Drink Acid