The BJP on Wednesday named candidates for three more Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, including former minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi from Ferozepur.
The party fielded Subhash Sharma from the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency and Arvind Khanna from Sangrur.
With this, the BJP has fielded candidates in 12 out of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab. It is yet to name its nominee for the Fatehgarh Sahib reserve constituency.
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For the first time in many decades, the BJP is fighting on its own in the state following the break in its ties with the Shiromani Akali Dal, one of its oldest allies.
Sodhi, the BJP candidate from Ferozepur, was the sports minister in the Amarinder Singh government in the state. He left the Congress and joined the BJP in 2021. He won the Guruhar Sahai Assembly segment in Punjab in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 on Congress tickets.
In the Lok Sabha polls, Sodhi has been pitted against the Congress' Sher Singh Ghubaya, AAP's Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar and SAD's Nardev Singh Bobby Mann.
The Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by the SAD's Sukhbir Badal who will not contest the polls this time.
The BJP's Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat candidate Subhash Sharma is the senior vice president of the party's Punjab unit. He has been pitted against the AAP's Malvinder Singh Kang, Congress' Vijay Inder Singla and SAD's Prem Singh Chandumajra.
Former MLA Arvind Khanna, filed from the Sangrur, will face AAP's Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Congress' Sukhpal Khaira, SAD (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann and SAD's Iqbal Singh Jundan.
Khanna won the Sangrur assembly seat in 2002 and 2012 on Congress tickets. He joined the BJP in 2022. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly elections from the Sangrur seat on a BJP ticket.
The BJP has won over a lot of influential leaders, including incumbent MPs from different parties, to its fold in its bid to strengthen its base in the state. It has also been assiduously wooing Sikhs, who are a majority in Punjab.
Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
