Sunil Jakhar admits to delay in declaring BJP nominee for Ludhiana (West) bypoll, asks workers to step up efforts

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Monday said it would have been better had the party announced its candidate early for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll. “Candidates of other parties started their campaign much earlier. Now, the BJP needs to step up its efforts to give its best,” he said during the filing of nomination papers by party candidate Jiwan Gupta for the June 19 bypoll. However, Jakhar added that the party could not declare its candidate early as its top leadership was caught up in “national issues” like the Operation Sindoor. “Now, we are going to make up for the lost time,” the state BJP chief added. The BJP was the last among major parties to declare its candidate for the seat, which has sizeable Hindu population. Jakhar, who had stayed away from party events for several months, on Monday accompanied Gupta during the filing of nomination papers for the seat. Jakhar’s presence has given a fillip to Gupta’s election campaign. Several reports earlier suggested that the state BJP was divided in various camps, with each group pushing for a different candidate for the bypoll. Targeting opponents on the occasion, the state BJP chief claimed that the BJP’s competition was with ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and not the Congress, which he said was a divided house. Jakhar said he had conveyed to Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, his good friend, to be cautious of backstabbers. He said both Congress and AAP candidates did not need any other opposition as they were surrounded by backstabbers. “So, the BJP should not worry about them and be focused on its development agenda,” he said. Meanwhile, Gupta declared assets worth Rs 1.20 crore with his wife. AAP candidate richest Ruling AAP’s candidate Sanjeev Arora is the richest in the fray so far with assets worth Rs 302.1 crore. Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Parupkar Singh Ghuman trail behind with assets worth Rs 7.52 crore and Rs 5.39 crore, respectively.

Ludhiana