The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced its candidate for the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday, nominating sitting Ludhiana Central MLA and former Congressman Ashok Parashar Pappi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In a surprising move, the AAP opted for Pappi, an ex-Congressman, over its original faces like Ahbaab Grewal and Prof Tejpal Gill. Both Grewal and Gill have previously faced defeats in elections; Grewal in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections and Gill in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Pappi’s main opponent in the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat will be three-time Member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Bittu, the grandson of slain Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, has won the Ludhiana seat in both 2014 and 2019. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress are yet to announce their candidates for this seat.
One of Pappi’s challenges will be to gain support in the rural areas of Dakha, Gill, and Jagraon, where he has not previously engaged with voters. The remaining six segments of Ludhiana — North, South, Central, West, East, and Atam Nagar — are urban areas.
Pappi, a former Congressman, secured victory from Ludhiana Central in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections on an AAP ticket, defeating three-time Congress MLA Surinder Dawar. He had previously faced defeat in Ludhiana South as a Congress candidate in 2012.
In 2016, Pappi and his brother Rakesh Parashar joined the AAP but returned to the Congress in 2017 after being denied tickets by the AAP for the Punjab Assembly polls. They rejoined the AAP ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.
A self-made businessman with interests in cable networks, real estate, and other ventures in Ludhiana, Pappi is seen as a financially influential candidate from a region known for its industrialists and business community.
In addition to the Ludhiana seat, the AAP also announced candidates for three other Lok Sabha seats in Punjab on Tuesday. Batala MLA Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi will contest from Gurdaspur, Muktsar legislator Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar will run in Ferozepur, and former SAD MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu will contest from Jalandhar.
With these announcements, the AAP has finalized its candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. The Lok Sabha elections in Punjab will be conducted in a single phase, with voting on June 1 and counting of votes on June 4.