Talks on to decide Jalandhar nominee

JALANDHAR: Even though the Shiromani Akali Dal is yet to find a keen ticket seeker for Jalandhar (reserve) constituency, party president Sukhbir Badal held five public meetings in the different assembly segments in two days to motivate his cadres. On Tuesday he also held a closed door meeting at a local hotel with senior SAD and BJP leaders to discuss the candidate.

It is learnt that earlier party had asked Adampur MLA Pawan Teenu to contest but he refused and after the recent developments in AAP, and three assembly seats are likely to fall vacant and party strength can come equal to SAD-BJP's joint strength, Sukhbir has also given up the idea of fielding a sitting MLA.

Apart from three SAD MLAs Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Teenu and Phillaur MLA Baldev Singh and a few other SAD leaders, former BJP MLAs Manoranjan Kalia, K D Bhandari and BJP district president Raman Pabbi were also present in the meeting that went to eel hold the public meetings.

Sources privy to the proceedings of the meeting said that name of forker Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal was also discussed. Sukhbir also asked the mood in the urban areas about Modi government.