Punjab bypolls BJP' s Thandal Cong' s Jatinder Kaur file nominations on last day

Chandigarh, Oct 25 (PTI) BJP candidate Sohan Singh Thandal and Congress nominee Jatinder Kaur were among the candidates who filed their nominations on Friday, which was the last day for filing papers, for the November 13 bypolls to four assembly segments in Punjab.
     The bypolls to the four assembly seats -- Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala -- were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to Lok Sabha.
     Thandal, who joined the BJP after quitting the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday, filed his nomination from Chabbewal (SC) assembly segment.
     He was accompanied by former Union ministers Som Parkash and Vijay Sampla, and party leader Avinash Rai Khanna.
     Thandal, who was the SAD's core committee member, had won the 2012 assembly poll from Chabbewal. But his bid to get reelected remained unsuccessful in 2017 and 2022.
     Thandal was the minister for jails, tourism and cultural affairs in the Akali government in Punjab.
     He had earlier remained MLA from the erstwhile Mahilpur assembly constituency in 1997, 2002 and 2007.
     Congress candidate Ranjit Kumar filed his papers from Chabbewal seat. He was accompanied by senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa.
     The Chabbewal bypoll was necessitated after Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who was a Congress MLA but later joined AAP, was elected to Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur.
     Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur filed her papers from the Dera Baba Nanak seat.
     Kaur is the wife of Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
     The Dera Baba Nanak seat fell vacant after Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was the Congress MLA from here, was elected from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat.
     Sukhjinder Randhawa was an MLA from this seat in 2002, 2012, 2017 and 2022.
     AAP candidate Harinder Singh Dhaliwal filed his papers from the Barnala assembly seat.
     The Barnala assembly seat fell vacant after Gurmeet Sigh Hayer, who was AAP MLA from here, was elected from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat. Hayer had won the Barnala seat in 2017 and 2022 assembly polls.
     The polling in these assembly segments will be held on November 13 and counting of votes will take place on November 23.
     The scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on October 28, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 30.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)