BJP narrows down its choices for Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat to four candidates

Four candidates have been selected by the BJP State Election Committee (SEC) for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. They are Kavita Khanna, the spouse of actor and four-time former MP Vinod Khanna, Ashwani Sharma, the former chief of state and a two-time member from Pathankot, Dinesh Singh Babbu, the former deputy speaker of Punjab and three-time MLA from Sujanpur, and Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa, the former MLA from Qadian.

The party’s central election committee (CEC), led by JP Nadda, has received these names.

Bajwa is most likely the only Sikh among them; the other three are Hindu. There are nine Assembly segments in the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency; four are thought to be mostly Hindu seats, with Sikh voters controlling the other five.

Pathankot City, Bhoa, Dinanagar, and Sujanpur are the seats where Hindu voters have a majority, while Gurdaspur, Dera Baba Nanak, Fatehgarh Churian, Qadian, and Batala are the seats where Sikh voters have consistently shown a strong presence in previous elections.

Sunil Jakhar, president of the state BJP, is in charge of the SEC. According to a senior official, the CEC was not required to choose a candidate only from the four choices provided by the state committee.

Following a series of meetings the state BJP conducted to assess worker sentiment, the names were decided upon. State BJP vice-president Kewal Dhillon chaired the talks about the Gurdaspur seat. These gatherings took place at Batala, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot. Pathankot and Batala are included in the Gurdaspur electoral district.

“After recent meetings with workers, the probables have been shortlisted based on feedback received from workers, block and mandal presidents, and other office-bearers of the party,” a top leader said.