In the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, parties are expected to stick with tried-and-true candidates

Parminder Singh Dhindsa, a former finance minister and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s son, seems to be the front-runner for the SAD ticket for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after the merger of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) with the SAD. Parminder has also run on a SAD ticket in 2019 from this location.

The rank and file of SAD was uncertain about who SAD would run for the Sangrur seat prior to the merger. Given that the Dhindsa family has controlled this seat for almost 20 years, Parminder is the natural pick.

It is quite likely that SAD (A) head and current Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Mann would run for office again from Sangrur. Mann has won the seat twice: in the June 2022 byelection and in the 1999 byelection.

Karamjit Anmol, an actor, singer, and comedian from Punjab, seems to be leading the pack as an AAP candidate. Anmol has been touring the constituency and hosting meetings in various locations. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the incumbent MLA for Barnala and Punjab’s Minister of Sports and Youth Services, is another name making the rounds in the AAP. In addition to these two options, the party could also take into consideration the name of Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, a Sunam MLA.

Given that it does not have an alliance with the AAP in Punjab, the Congress aims to present formidable candidates in each of the state’s LS districts. In this case, the party may take into consideration former Sangrur MP and Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla’s name for the ticket, however Dalvir Singh Goldy, a former MLA from Dhuri, has also been making claims to the ticket. According to Goldy, he ran on the Congress ticket for the June 2022 Sangrur LS byelection with the understanding that he would also run for office in 2024.

All of the BJP’s candidates for Lok Sabha seats are expected to have a difficult time winning over farmers because of their protest against the Modi administration. However, Sunam resident Daaman Thind Bajwa, a secretary of the BJP’s Punjab branch, is eager to run for office and has submitted her name to the party’s Sangrur constituency coordinator.

It should be noted that she has been involved in politics for a number of years and that, in 2017, she ran for Sunam Assembly on the Congress platform.

In addition to Daaman, former MLAs from Sangrur and Barnala, Arvind Khanna and Kewal Singh Dhillon, are also being mentioned as potential BJP contenders.

Though they have said that they would follow any instructions provided by the party, they are not particularly eager to run from Sangrur.

On a BJP platform, Dhillon ran in the 2022 Sangrur Lok Sabha byelection.