LS polls AAP announces final list of 4 more candidates in Punjab fields three MLAs a turncoat

    Chandigarh, Apr 16 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday announced its final list of four more candidates in Punjab for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding three legislators and a turncoat.
    With this announcement, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has declared its candidates for all 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab.
    The announcement regarding the names of candidates was made by the party's national general secretary Sandeep Pathak in a post on X.
    From Jalandhar (reserve) constituency, AAP named former Akali MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu, who joined the party a few days back. Tinu will be facing Congress candidate and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and BJP's Sushil Rinku. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is yet to name its candidate from Jalandhar.
    Tinu, a Dalit leader, was elected as MLA from the Adampur assembly constituency in the Jalandhar district in 2012 and 2017. He lost the 2022 assembly polls to Congress nominee Sukhwinder Kotli. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
    The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Sushil Rinku, who won it on AAP ticket in the 2023 bypoll. Rinku was named the AAP candidate from the seat but he quit the party and joined the BJP.
    Besides Tinu, AAP named three party MLAs - “Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat, Amansher Singh Kalsi from Gurdaspur and Ashok Parashar Pappi from the Ludhiana parliamentary seat.
    Brar is an MLA from Muktsar. He had defeated SAD nominee Kanwaljit Singh in the 2022 assembly polls. Brar had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly polls.
    The Ferozepur seat is currently represented by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal who has already announced not to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
    The Congress, the BJP and SAD are yet to announce their candidates from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat.
    AAP showed its faith in Batala MLA Kalsi by fielding him from the Gurdaspur seat, currently represented by BJP's Sunny Deol.
    Kalsi became MLA from Batala by defeating Congress' Ashwani Sekhri in the 2022 assembly polls.
    Kalsi is pitted against BJP candidate Dinesh Babbu and SAD's Daljit Singh Cheema. The Congress is yet to name its candidate from the Gurdaspur seat.
    From Ludhiana seat, AAP has fielded Ludhiana Central MLA Pappi.
    He will face three-time MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, who is now the BJP candidate. Bittu had quit the Congress and joined the BJP. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress are yet to name their candidates from Ludhiana.
    AAP has already fielded five Cabinet ministers' - Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur, Kuldeep Dhaliwal from Amritsar, Balbir Singh from Patiala, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian from Bathinda and Laljit Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib.
    It has named two turncoats - Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Hoshiarpur and Gurpreet Singh GP from Fatehgarh Sahib.
    The party has also fielded Punjabi actor Karamjit Anmol from Faridkot and state unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang from the Anandpur Sahib seat.
    AAP, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, is contesting the parliamentary polls on its own in Punjab.
    Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held in the last phase on June 1.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)