A day after the Congress announced its candidates from Bathinda and Ferozepur Lok Sabha seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is learnt to have finalised the candidatures of Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda and her husband and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal from Ferozepur.

Party insiders said the SAD leadership will formally make an announcement in this regard in the next two days. Filing of nominations for the May 19 elections in Punjab will begin on Monday.

SAD leaders, seeking anonymity, told HT that there is no move to field former Congress MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, who joined the SAD recently, from Ferozepur.

“For the past several days, Harsimrat has been holding public meetings in Bathinda constituency from where she was elected for the second consecutive term in 2014 parliamentary polls,” said a senior Akali leader.

“Similarly, Sukhbir has been active in Ferozepur for the past few weeks. The party is confident of performing well in both the constituencies. We were waiting for the Congress to first declare its candidates,” he added.

Sukhbir, who is an MLA from Jalalabad, had last contested the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 from Faridkot seat.

A senior party leader said Bathinda and Ferozepur are the traditional strongholds of the SAD-BJP.

“The border constituency of Ferozepur has been represented by the alliance for about 20 years. Jalalabad assembly segment represented by Sukhbir is also a part of this Lok Sabha seat. The party has a strong base in the area,” he added.

While rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sukhbir Singh Khaira is the Punjab Ekta Party candidate in Bathinda, the Congress has fielded Gidderbaha MLA Raja Amrinder Singh Warring from this seat.

From Ferozepur, Sher Singh Ghubaya is the Congress candidate. Ghubaya, a former SAD leader, had joined the Congress last month.

First Published: Apr 21, 2019 22:51 IST