Jalandhar West Assembly byelections: AAP, BJP name their party candidates | Check Their Profiles
Jalandhar West Assembly byelections: The AAP and the BJP on Monday named their respective candidates for byelections to the Jalandhar West Assembly segment. Mohinder Bhagat would be party candidates of AAP, while BJP has fielded Sheetal Angural.
The byelections to the Jalandhar West (SC) Assembly segment would be held on July 10 and the votes would be counted on July 13. Interestingly, the byelection on this seat was necessitated after the the resignation of Sheetal Angural as an AAP legislator. And now, he has been fielded by the BJP from the same seat.
Mohinder Bhagat (AAP candidate)
Mohinder Bhagat is the first candidate to be announced by any political party for the Jalandhar West Assembly byelections, which is scheduled for July 10. The nomination process commenced on June 14 and will conclude on June 21.
Mohinder Bhagat is the son of Chunni Lal Bhagat, a veteran BJP leader and former three-time BJP MLA and minister, who had previously represented the Jalandhar West constituency. Mohinder Bhagat also contested from this seat in the 2017 elections on a BJP ticket, but was defeated by the then Congress candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku, who had defected to AAP last year and had contested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll in 2023 on and AAP ticket and won with a huge margin.
But before this Lok Sabha election, Rinku left the AAP to join the BJP. Last year, Chunni Lal Bhagat publicly expressed his dismay, claiming he was unaware of his son’s decision to join the AAP. Mohinder Bhagat has long been active in the Jalandhar West constituency, initially assisting his father and later serving as a BJP leader. The AAP has struggled to find another candidate for this seat. Pawan Kumar, its Lok Sabha candidate who switched from the SAD to the AAP before the Lok Sabha election, has shown no interest in contesting the bypoll.
Sheetal Angural (BJP Candidate)
Sheetal Angural, originally with the BJP, played a pivotal role in supporting BJP-Akali Dal candidate Charanjit Singh Atwal during the 2019 elections. However, in 2022, Sheetal Angural parted ways with the BJP and joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), subsequently becoming an MLA. Just before the Lok Sabha Elections, he rejoined the BJP and submitted his resignation from the Assembly. Although Angural later attempted to retract his resignation, the Assembly Speaker, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, had already accepted it.
A notification from the Assembly Secretary was sent to Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer, Sibin C, indicating that the Jalandhar West-34 seat was vacant as of May 30, 2024. Before withdrawing his resignation, Angural removed the "Modi family" tag from his social media accounts, leading to speculation about his possible return to AAP. Angural announced his intention to challenge the acceptance of his resignation and planned to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Despite this, the Election Commission has announced a bypoll for the vacant Assembly seat.
- With inputs from our correspondent
