On Wednesday, Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia, a former Union Minister, put forth his nomination as the BJP’s contender for the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.
Ahluwalia’s name was among the nine in the tenth Lok Sabha candidates list announced by the BJP.
Initially, the party nominated Pawan Singh for Asansol, but later he withdrew his candidacy without providing a reason and is now considering running independently from Karakat in Bihar.
Ahluwalia, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Burdwan-Durgapur, will be challenged by prominent Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Satrughan Sinha. In the 2019 election, Ahluwalia secured victory with a margin of 2,439 votes, garnering 598,376 votes to defeat TMC candidate Mamtaz Sanghamita.
From September 15, 1995, to May 16, 1996, Ahluwalia held the position of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Affairs and Employment (Department of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation) in the P V Narasimha Rao ministry. Additionally, from June 2010 to May 2012, he served as the deputy opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha.
Ahluwalia was a member of the Rajya Sabha representing Bihar and Jharkhand from 1986 to 2012. He became a member of the BJP in 1999, and with strong support from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, he won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Darjeeling constituency.
The Bhojpuri artist Pawan Singh was previously nominated by the party for the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency; however, the TMC severely criticized Singh’s candidacy. Following accusations from the ruling party that some of his songs were disparaging of women, Pawan Singh declared his intention to withdraw from the election.
Polling in West Bengal’s 42 parliamentary constituencies will occur over seven phases: April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Asansol will participate in the polls on May 13, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.