Though the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday announced its first list of 48 candidates for the assembly elections before over all other political parties, the announcement of the polls for January 30 has taken the ruling party by surprise. In normal course the elections were slated for mid-February as the term of the present House expires in the third week of March.
Akali Dal spokesperson DS Cheema said even as the party was prepared for the electoral battle, the campaign period has been cut short by at least a fortnight. BJP president Nitin Gadkari addressed a public meeting in Jalandhar on Saturday in an effort to infuse confidence in the state BJP unit which did not have high hopes from the coming election.
In the 117-member House, the BJP has a strength of 19, which is an all-time high. The BJP might field over 10 new faces to combat the anti-incumbency wave.
The Congress has started the process of identifying candidates and would have to hurry through as the entire exercise is at a very premature stage. The Punjab People’s Party, launched recently by Manpreet Badal, nephew of Parkash singh Badal, is also busy setting its house in order and identifying candidates for the polls.
