Chandigarh, May 31 (IANS) The BJP on Saturday nominated Jiwan Gupta for the four-cornered Assembly by-election to Ludhiana West in Punjab on June 19.
Gupta replaces Advocate Bikram Singh Sidhu as the official BJP candidate from the constituency, as it was the latter who fought the 2022 Assembly elections and came third with 28,107 votes, with 23.95 per cent vote share.
Gupta is Punjab BJP’s general secretary and a member of the state core committee of the party.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in February announced Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora as its candidate for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly by-election, whose result will be declared on June 23.
The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the demise of sitting Congress MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi. The 58-year-old legislator died after sustaining a gunshot wound to his head at his house in January.
For the by-election, the main Opposition Congress has fielded former Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who is being accused in a multi-crore foodgrain transportation and labour cartage tender scam.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has nominated Parupkar Singh Ghuman for the bypoll.
In the 2022 Assembly election, the AAP won the Ludhiana West seat with 34.36 per cent vote share. Gogi had secured 40,443 votes as compared to his nearest rival from the Congress, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who got 32,931 votes with 28.06 per cent vote share.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for by-elections to five Assembly constituencies of Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal. The polling date for the five constituencies is June 19, and the date of counting of votes is June 23.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in the districts in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, said the ECI.
The last date for filing nominations is June 2, while the last date for withdrawal of names is June 5.
The Commission also said that the candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through television channels on three occasions during the campaign period.
A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about the criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and in newspapers and television channels on three occasions.
–IANS
rch/dan
