Lok Sabha Elections: SAD bets on Atwal in Jalandhar

JALANDHAR/PHAGWARA: SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Saturday announced former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal as his party’s candidate for the May 19 parliamentary election from Jalandhar seat.


Atwal served as the MP from neighbouring Phillaur (now Hoshiarpur ) between 2007 and 2009.

His son Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was also present at the event where Atwal’s name was announced.

Sukhbir, at the event, reached out to party workers by posing with them for photographs and discussibng problems faced by them. In all, the SAD chief addressed two workers’ meetings, in Jalandhar Cantonment and Phagwara assembly segments. At the event in Jalandhar Cantonment, he posed with supporters on and off the stage. At Phagwara, he first addressed workers and then posed with them for photographs.

Earlier, the party had planned that Sukhbir would go to the table of all workers at the two events, interact with them and then pose for photographs. However, as the turnout was larger than expected, Sukhbir sat at one place and party workers went to him for photographs one after another. SAD Jalandhar Cantonment assembly segment incharge Sarabjit Singh Makkar, who organised the show, had to make repeated appeals to workers to maintain discipline.