The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal seems to have learnt a leason from its defeat in the last Vidhan Sabha polls, as in a number of Assembly constituencies it has changed its candidates and has even opted for relatives of senior party leaders and those who contested as rebels last time.
SAD has so far declared its candidates for 88 of the 117 seats. As in the last polls, SAD has left 23 seats for its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
SAD, which had won 41 seats in the 2002 elections, has renominated 55 candidates who had contested the last polls, while in the remaining, it has opted for either new faces or candidates who had contested as independents in 2002.
In the last elections, the party lost in five to seven constituencies, owing to the presence of rebel candidates.
In the last polls, in the Sherpur (reserve) segment, Gobind Singh Kanjla who contested the polls as a rebel after being denied the SAD ticket, won the seat as an independent.
However SAD has alloted the ticket to Kanjla this time.
Likewise from Sham Chaurasi (reserve), the party has given the ticket to former minister Mohinder Kaur, who was denied the ticket last time. Kaur had entered the electoral fray as an independent in 2002, after SAD left the Sham Chaurasi seat to its ally, the Bhaujan Samaj Morcha, led by Satnam Singh Kaith.
Her presence in the election arena had led to the defeat of the BSM candidate and ensured the victory of the Congress by a slender margin.
From Tarn Taran, the party has opted for sitting legislator Harmeet Singh Sandhu who had won this seat as an independent in 2002. The party ignored the claims of former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee acting president Alwinderpal Singh Pakoke, who had lost the seat to Sandhu.
In Mukatsar, the party has chosen sitting MLA Sukhdarshan Singh Marar who had won this seat as an independent in the last elections. SAD has also changed its candidates from Nihalsinghwala, Malout, Pacca Kalan and Bathinda and a number of other constiuencies.
