The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is slated to contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections on 65 seats, while former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress will contest on 37 seats.
Announcing the seat-sharing arrangement on Monday, 24 January, BJP president JP Nadda said:
"Under the NDA alliance in Punjab, the BJP, Punjab Lok Congress, and Samyukta Akali Dal-Dhindsa will fight the Assembly elections together."
"The BJP will contest on 65 seats, Punjab Lok Congress on 37 seats, and Samyukta Akali Dal-Dhindsa on 15 seats," Nadda further added.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to share a photo of the members of the NDA alliance in Punjab. He said, "The NDA, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi Ji, is committed to restoring the glory of Punjab and the welfare of the farmers, poor, and deprived."
Capt Amarinder Continues To Cast Aspersions on Sidhu, 'Spent Force' Claims Latter
Meanwhile, addressing the media at the event of the announcement, Amarinder Singh, according to NDTV, claimed that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked him to retain Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu in his cabinet (when he was CM).
"The Pakistan Prime Minister had sent a request, saying if you can take back Sidhu into your Cabinet I will be grateful, he is an old friend of mine. You can remove him if he will not work," Singh alleged.
Sidhu, however, according to NDTV refused to comment on the matter, saying:
"I don't want to comment on someone who's a spent force.”
More Details
Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) founder and former chief minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh has announced that he will contest the Punjab Assembly elections from his home constituency, Patiala Urban.
Ajit Pal Singh, former captain of the Indian hockey team, is also named in the first list of PLC's candidates. However, only one woman is contesting the elections from the PLC as of now – Farzana Alam Khan, a former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA, and wife of late police chief Izhar Alam Khan. She will contest from Malerkotla in the Malwa region.
The state of Punjab is slated to go to the polls on 20 February.
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