Parties banking on MLAs in Haryana and Punjab for LS polls

To boost their poll prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, political parties in Haryana and Punjab are banking on their MLAs as 11 legislators, seven in Punjab and four in Haryana are set to contest the Lok Sabha poll on April 30 and April 10 respectively.
Haryana has an assembly of 90 members where Congress won 40 seats, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC-BL) six, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) 31, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) 4, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) one each and seven seats went to Independents during the elections in 2009.
In neighbouring Punjab, the state assembly has 117 seats out of which 56 went to SAD in the 2012 assembly polls. SAD's ally BJP had got 12 seats, Congress 46 and three seats went to Independents.

In Haryana, Congress has fielded its Nalwa MLA and former Minister Sampat Singh from Hisar Lok Sabha seat to take on Haryana Janhit Congress chief and MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, besides other candidates in the fray from that parliamentary constituency.
With Congress' sitting MP from Sonepat Jitender Malik having withdrawn from race earlier, Congress fielded his younger brother Jagbir Malik as candidate from the seat.
Jagbir Malik is Congress MLA from Gohana and will be the first-time contestant for Lok Sabha.

Rao Dharam Pal Singh Yadav is the Congress' sitting MLA from Badshahpur. He has entered the fray from Gurgaon to take on turncoat and former Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, who recently quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

To boost its prospects from Sirsa, Haryana's main opposition Indian National Lok Dal has announced the candidature of Charanjit Singh, who recently quit as SAD MLA in the state assembly to join the INLD.
SAD is an ally of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD, in Haryana.
In neighbouring Punjab too, the parties are banking on their MLAs on as many as seven seats.
The Congress has fielded its former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh from the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency to take on BJP's Arun Jaitley. Amarinder Singh is presently serving as the MLA from Patiala.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Sunil Jakhar, Congress' Abhohar MLA, has been fielded from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat while Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Nabha MLA, will enter the fray from Fatehgarh Sahib.

Joginder Singh Panjgrain, the Jaito MLA, is the Congress candidate from Faridkot.
On the other hand, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded Manpreet Singh Ayali, Dakha MLA, from Ludhiana parliamentary constituency and Adampur MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu from Jalandhar.
An Independent MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, who was supporting the ruling SAD has announced his decision to contest from Ludhiana.