Ex-servicemen to contest Punjab Assembly polls next year

Amritsar, Apr 27: All India Ex-servicemen United Front, a political outfit, today said it will contest 2017 Punjab Assembly polls as the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and previous Congress governments "failed" to address the issues of the ex-servicemen.

The party would field its candidates on nearly 40 constituencies in Punjab so that they could be the part of the government after winning elections, Front's state In-charge Captain (Retd) Chanan Singh Sidhu said in a press conference here.

Sidhu declared Colonel (Retd) Manmohan Singh as party candidate for Jalandhar Cantt for the 2017 polls. He said the name of rest of the candidates will be announced by May 25 so that they could get enough time for elections' campaign.

Talking about alliance with any political party, Sidhu said they were open to alliance with any party except the ruling SAD-BJP alliance while "holding them accountable" for "mass suicide" of debt-ridden farmers in Punjab, besides "poor" state of ex-servicemen.

PTI