UPDATE- Sushil Rinku quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP. Rinku also resigned from the MP post of Jalandhar. Sushil Rinku had won the Jalandhar By-election on AAP's ticket. Now, Sushil Rinku will fight Lok Sabha Polls 2024 from Jalandhar on BJP's ticket.
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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced a list of 8 candidates for Lok Sabha Elections in Punjab. AAP's first list of Lok Sabha candidates for Punjab included- Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, etc. Notably, the Aam Aadmi Party is yet to announce the last 5 names of candidates. It is expected that the rest of the names of AAP Punjab Lok Sabha Candidates will be announced in its second list. Below is the AAP's Punjab Lok Sabha Candidates' first list-
- Amritsar: Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal
- Khadoor: Laljit Singh Bhullar
- Jalandhar: Sushil Kumar Rinku (Not Applicable)
- Fatehgarh Sahib: Gurpreet Singh GP
- Faridkot: Karamjeet Anmol
- Bathinda: Gurmeet Singh Khudian
- Sangrur: Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer
- Patiala: Dr. Balbir Singh
AAP Punjab Lok Sabha Candidates First List In Detail
As mentioned above, Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal will contest elections from Amritsar. He is MLA from Ajnala. Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar will be the candidate from Khadur Sahib.
Singer Karamjit Anmol has been made the candidate from Faridkot. Gurmeet Singh Khuddiyan will contest from Bathinda. Khuddiyan is currently the Agriculture Minister of Punjab. He had defeated Prakash Singh Badal from the Lambi seat.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Higher Candidate from Sangrur. Hayer is a Cabinet Minister in the Bhagwant Mann government and a second-time MLA from Barnala.
Last but not least, Dr Balbir Singh will contest Lok Sabha Elections from Patiala. He is currently the Health Minister of Punjab and MLA from Patiala Rural.
Candidates are yet to be announced on the seats of Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, Anandpur Sahib, Firozpur, and Hoshiarpur.
How Lok Sabha 2024 in Punjab is different from 2019?
The answer is the changing political landscape and the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was the Congress-led UPA that enjoyed Punjab as a stronghold. However, in the current scenario, AAP has clearly bolstered its hold in Punjab. AAP handed over a defeat to the BJP in the controversial Chandigarh Mayoral Poll. While at first the BJP's candidate was declared a winner, later the Supreme Court of India held AAP as the ultimate winner. The opposition block called Chandigarh Mayoral election win I.N.D.I.A's official start of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.