Punjab elections: BJP fields two Congress turncoats, former Union minister Sampla

Chandigarh, Jan 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded three former Congress leaders for next month's Punjab Assembly elections. The saffron party has given tickets to two sitting MLAs Fatehjang Singh Bajwa and Harjot Kamal, who had recently quit the Congress and joined the BJP, and minister Vijay Sampla.

Qadian MLA Bajwa will be contesting from Batala, while the Congress has fielded his elder brother Partap Singh Bajwa from Qadian. Whereas Harjot Kamal will be contesting from his current constituency Moga, where the Congress has fielded actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood, which forced him to join the BJP.

Vijay Sampla, who is currently the Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, will contest from Phagwara.

While Rakesh Dhingra has fielded from Lambi against SAD patriarch and former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Randeep Singh Deol will be in the fray against AAP's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri.

From Chamkaur Sahib, the BJP has fielded Darshan Singh Shivjot. Chamkaur Sahib is currently represented by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The BJP has also fielded Iqbal Singh Lalpura, who is the chairperson of the National Commission of Minorities, from Rupnagar. Former Akali MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar has been given ticket from Jalandhar Cantt. Makkar had joined the BJP after the Shiromani Akali Dal denied him the ticket from Jalandhar Cantt, PTI reported.

The BJP is fielding Seema Kumari from Bhoa, Parminder Singh Gill from Gurdaspur, Sanjiv Vashishth from Mohali and Parveen Bansal from Ludhiana North.