Poonam Dhillon state BJP’S top choice for Amritsar seat
CHANDIGARH :In a surprise move, the Punjab unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday recommended film actress Poonam Dhillon’s name as one of the options for candidate from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.
Dhillon, a Punjabi, who completed her schooling in Chandigarh, is currently active in Maharashtra unit of the BJP and holds the vice-president’s post in party’s Mumbai unit. She joined the BJP in 2004 but never contested elections.
The state election panel of the party that met here on Tuesday recommended her name after it was suggested by state BJP chief Shwait Malik, it is learnt. The move left most of the committee members surprised as Dhillon’s name never came up for discussion before.
A top BJP functionary said that on the recommendation of central BJP leaders, Dhillon recently met state BJP president Shwait Malik and party’s incharge for Lok Sabha polls in Punjab Captain Abhimanyu, who is Haryana finance minister.
The panel also suggested the name of former improvement trust chairman Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna, who unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll, for the ticket.
However, the way things have unfolded, the actress’ candidature from the constituency looks certain.
State BJP chief Shwait Malik refused a direct reply on the possibility of Dhillon’s candidature, saying, “It was a confidential meeting of the party.”
State BJP chief and Captain Abhimanyu most likely will forward the names recommended by the state unit’s election panel to party president Amit Shah on March 22. Till a few days back, the party was also considering the name of Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh from the seat, but his name was not discussed in the meeting on Tuesday.
VIJAY SAMPLA NOT THE ONLY OPTION
From Hoshiarpur, from where Union minister Vijay Sampla is the sitting MP, the state unit has finalised three options. Apart from Sampla, other two names are party’s Phagwara MLA Som Parkash and former chairman of Punjab Scheduled Caste Commission Rajesh Bagha.
From the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency, the party has decided to send three names to the party high command — late actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna’s wife Kavita Khanna, former state BJP president Ashwani Sharma and former minister Master Mohan Lal.
Surprisingly, during deliberations, the state committee was also unanimous on not recommending businessman Swaran Salaria’s name, said a panel member.
Notably, Salaria had unsuccessfully contested the October 2017 Gurdaspur bypoll necessitated after Vinod Khanna’s death. He had lost to Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Sunil Jakhar by over 1.93 lakh votes.
MP VIJAY SAMPLA AMONG THREE OPTIONS FROM HOSHIARPUR; LATE VINOD KHANNA’S WIFE KAVITA KHANNA AMONG PROBABLES FROM GURDASPUR