SAD-BJP gaining ground in Punjab

LUDHIANA: The bold initiative taken by the President of India, and the final dissolving of the Lok Sabha on Friday has left the potential candidates immediately gearing up for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
Ludhiana is likely to bear more than one potential candidate out of the thirteen constituencies of Punjab. While the SAD-BJP coalition is gaining a promising position in Punjab for the forthcoming elections, the number of candidates vying for the ticket within the party is increasing by the day.
Ludhiana constituency itself has half a dozen of them lined up for the ticket. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, president, Youth Akali Dal seems to be the forerunner for the ticket so far.
There has been a question mark of his stepping from Youth Akali Dal''s presidentship to a parliamentary seat and if he would prove a promising candidate. Dhillon faction insists that Amrik Singh Aliwal had also stepped into an MPs seat from a president Youth SAD’s post. The punch line is that he got on to being a member of the Parliament twice, and there is no predicting of what Dhillon has in store for him. Presently, Aliwal is again in the fray, except he is positioned fourth in the queue.
Between Dhillon and Aliwal stand Maheshinder Singh Grewal, former minister and Hira Singh Gabria, former MLA both from the Tohra faction of the Akalis. While both the Akali factions and the BJP are likely to sort out the constituencies in the next meeting scheduled after the Akali Dal’s PAC meeting on Friday night at Chandigarh, until then there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. Sat Pal Gosain, former deputy speaker of Punjab is also considered to be lobbying for the seat.
It has been learnt that Tohra faction is likely to have a candidate either from Ropar or Ludhiana constituency, but while Ropar is taken as an easy win for the Akalis, they cannot place Ludhiana in the same niche.
Whether the masses would trust the fickle and rather unpredictable relationship between the two Akali factions enough to get the party through from a crucial constituency like Ludhiana is a question, which is possibly being given a serious thought. The Akalis are in all likelihood spruced up against the sitting MP, Gurcharan Singh Ghalib of the Indian National Congress.