AAP announces first list, Mann named Punjab's campaign committee chairman

Phoolka, who lost LS election of 2014 from Ludhiana, will contest from Dakha constituency in Ludhiana district

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday issued the first list of 19 candidates for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls slated to be held next year.

Party MP Bhagwant Mann has been named as the chairman of campaign committee for Punjab.
 

Phoolka, who lost the Lok Sabha election of 2014 from Ludhiana, will contest from Dakha constituency in Ludhiana district, said the Aam Aadmi Party, which has emerged as a major player in the state.

The candidates are a mix of lawyers, activists, a former MP, sportsmen, an ex-serviceman, a doctor, an engineer and traders.

The AAP's entry has made the Punjab elections, expected to be held early next year, a three-way affair for the first time. The other two main contenders are the ruling Akali Dal-BJP coalition and the Congress party.

The list of candidates is as follows:

Ahbaab Singh Grewal (Ludhiana (W)), Sajjan Singh Cheema (Sultanpur Lodhi), Inderbir Singh Nijjer (Amritsar (South)), Mohan Singh Phalianwala (Ferozepur (Rural)), Samarbir Singh Sidhu (Fazika), Rajpreet Singh Randhawa (Ajnala), Jagdeep Singh Brar (Sri Muktsar Sahib), Gurdit Singh Brar (Faridkot), Brigadier Raj Kumar (Balachaur), Gurvinder Singh Shampura (Fatehgarh Churian), Gurpreet Singh Lapran (Payal), Rupinder Kaur (Bathinda (Rural)), Jasvir Singh Sekh on Jassi (Dhuri), Amarjeet Singh (Roop Nagar), Santok Singh Salana (Bassi Pathana), H.S. Phoolka (Dakha), Kultar Singh Sandhwa (Kotkapura), Harjot Singh Bains (Sahnewal) and Himmat Singh Shergil (Mohali).

However, the protests erupted at many places in the state yesterday against the candidates list.

Former bureaucrat Hardip Singh Kingra, who was hopeful of getting a ticket from Faridkot, quit the AAP on Wednesday in what seemed to be his ire against the party for sidelining him.