CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday released its first list of seven candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Party bigwigs Daljit Singh Cheema and Prem Singh Chandumajra have found a place in the first list. For the first time in more than two decades, the party will be contesting the Amritsar and Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seats. Interestingly two Hindu leaders have been given tickets by the panthic party. Former BJP minister Anil Joshi has been fielded from Amritsar against BJP candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who was India’s Ambassador to the United States. This is a strategic move by the Akali Dal to tap into the urban Hindu electorate while leveraging his political experience. Earlier, BJP leaders Hardeep Puri and Arun Jaitley had unsuccessfully contested from Amritsar in 2019 and 2014.In Patiala, two-time former Dera Bassi MLA and realtor NK Sharma has been given the ticket. Patiala will witness a tough contest with the BJP fielding former Congress MP Preneet Kaur, while the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has already announced the candidature of state health minister Dr Balbir Singh. The Congress is likely to field former AAP MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, who joined the party recently.Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema has been fielded from Gurdaspur. His native village of Cheema falls in this district where he spent the first ten years of his political career. Cheema, who was the education minister in the SAD-BJP government, had been eyeing the ticket from Anandpur Sahib as was an MLA from there.



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