Dharmavira Gandhi, Channi, Khaira in Congress’ first list in Punjab

The Congress on Sunday announced six out of 13 candidates in its first list for Punjab that will go to the polls in a single phase on June 1.

The party has retained the sitting MP from Amritsar, Gurjit Aujla, and announced candidature of former Chief Minister Charanjit Channi from Jalandhar (reserved), Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala, Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib (reserved), Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu from Bathinda, and sitting firebrand legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira from Sangrur.

Sacked AAP parliamentarian Dharamvira Gandhi, who won the 2014 polls by defeating Congress candidate and former Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Preneet Kaur from Patiala, was inducted into the Congress on April.

A cardiologist and social worker, he surprised the Congress when he defeated three-time MP Preneet Kaur, in Patiala, the royal citadel. He was suspended from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2015.

Preneet Kaur, the wife of two-time Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and once a prominent face of the Congress, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month. In 2019, she defeated her nearest rival Shiromani Akali Dal’s Surjit Singh Rakhra by a margin of 1,62,718 votes. She has been fielded from Patiala.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congres won the maximum — eight seats — in the state, while the BJP-led NDA managed to secure victory in four seats — two each for the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The AAP was restricted to just one seat.