Know your candidates for tomorrow’s Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll in Punjab

Political background: Mohinder Bhagat, 66, son of BJP veteran and former three-time MLA Chunni Lal Bhagat, joined the AAP last year. He contested the seat in 2017 on a BJP ticket but lost to Sushil Kumar Rinku, the then Congress candidate who defected to the AAP in 2023 and to the BJP before the Lok Sabha polls.

Mohinder’s father, who represented Jalandhar West in the Assembly, had wept before the media saying that his son had kept him in the dark about his plan to quit the BJP. However, Chunni Lal Bhagat has now appealed to voters to support his son.

Main election agenda: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has extensively campaigned for Mohinder Bhagat, promising comprehensive civic amenities, improved education, and healthcare facilities. These commitments are also part of Mohinder’s election campaign.

Congress candidate Surinder Kaur

Education: Pre-medical from KMV College, Jalandhar

Political background: Surinder Kaur, 63, has served as a councillor four times and was senior deputy mayor in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation from 2018 to 2023. She has a consistent record of victories in corporation elections since the late 1990s. For the Congress, winning Jalandhar West is crucial, especially following former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s recent success in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat. In previous elections, the Congress polled over 44,000 votes in this segment, narrowly defeating the BJP, which secured just over 42,000 votes. The close margin has buoyed the BJP’s confidence in the upcoming bypoll.

Main election agenda: Surinder Kaur’s campaign focuses on combating issues such as drug abuse, illegal lotteries, inadequate street lighting, insufficient drinking water supply, and inadequate sewer systems plaguing the constituency.

BJP candidate Sheetal Angural

Education: Matriculation from the Haryana Council of Open Schooling

Political background: Sheetal Angural, 41, has had a tumultuous political journey. He began as a BJP leader, switched to the AAP and returned to the saffron party before the Lok sabha polls. In the 2022 Assembly elections, he defeated the Congress’s Sushil Kumar Rinku by 4,254 votes on an AAP ticket. He has now alleged that a close relative of Bhagwant Mann is involved in corruption.

Main election agenda: His campaign focuses on addressing issues such as drugs, illegal lotteries, and overall development in the area.

Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Surjit Kaur

Education: Illiterate

Political background: Surjit Kaur, 60, a former two-time councillor, has made headlines during the election campaign for her swift party switches. Kaur joined the AAP and returned to the SAD the same day, citing her “strong allegiance” to the regional party. Though initially disowned by the SAD, she had secured the party’s symbol of “takdi (scale)” for the bypoll. But her party still supports the BSP candidate instead of her. She is considered as the choice of SAD rebels–the reason why the party still does not back her candidature.

Main election agenda: Her campaign emphasises providing safe drinking water, proper sewerage, and tackling issues like drugs and illegal lotteries.

BSP candidate Binder Kumar

Education: Matriculation

Political background: Binder Kumar, 49, has been an active BSP member for over two decades but is contesting an election for the first time. He enjoys the SAD’s support in this bypoll.

Main election agenda: Drugs, illegal lotteries, poor sanitation, lack of safe drinking water, unemployment, and rising crime in the constituency.