1,080 candidates in fray for Punjab polls

As many as 1,080 candidates remain in the fray for the January 30 Punjab Assembly elections, as the date for withdrawal of nominations by candidates got over.

The state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said on Tuesday that nominations of 1,259 candidates were found valid after the scrutiny on January 13. Out of this, 179 candidates withdrew their papers on the last day of withdrawal of nominations yesterday, a CEO spokesperson told Business Standard.

The previous (2007) Assembly election saw the filing of a total of 1,225 nominations and 186 candidates withdrawing subsequently. That had left a total of 1,039 candidates in the fray for 116 seats that time. (Election to Valtoha was countermanded.)

The main parties contesting the 117 seats this time are the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and the main Opposition Congress besides the Sanjha Morcha comprising the People’s Party of Punjab and the Communist Party of India.

According to political analysts, the upcoming elections are not going to be a cakewalk for any political bloc. While the Congress hopes to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor, the ruling SAD-BJP combine is banking on the development work it carried during their tenure. It is also relying on the anti-Congress (UPA) sentiments prevailing at the national level.

Punjab has never retained a government of the same party. For the Congress, the main electoral plank is the “corruption” and “hollow promises” by the ruling SAD-BJP. analysts say the emergence of Manpreet Badal’s PPP, a St Stephen’s-educated law graduate who did his higher studies from University of London, may cut into the vote-share of the SAD headed by his estranged uncle, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Also, in order to give a filip to Congress campaign, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be addressing the Congress election rallies at Amritsar and Ludhiana on January 21. Also, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will also come to address party rallies—one at Moga in Malwa region and the other at Kapurthala in Doaba region. The date for Gandhi’s rally is being worked out.

Her son and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will address six rallies in two days.