Chandigarh: The Punjab State Assembly by-elections are set to take place on November 13, 2024, for four seats: Giddarbaha, Barnala, Dera Baba Nanak, and Chabbewal. These seats became vacant following the recent Lok Sabha elections.
In a joint meeting held at the Press Club Chandigarh, leaders from the Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar (Mann), International Panthic Dal (IPD), and Sher-e-Punjab Akali Dal announced their collaboration for the upcoming elections.
Simranjit Singh Mann, president of Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar (Mann), declared his grandson, Gobind Singh Sandhu, as the party’s candidate for the Barnala seat.
Gobind Singh Sandhu announced as candidate of SADA (Mann) for Barnala byelection
The Barnala assembly constituency is part of the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, which Mann previously won in a 2022 by-election but lost during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Other leaders present included Jasbir Singh Rodey from IPD and Gurdeep Singh Bathinda from Sher-e-Punjab Akali Dal.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) also announced its candidates for the by-elections: Manpreet Singh Badal from Giddarbaha, Kewal Singh Dhillon from Barnala, and Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon from Dera Baba Nanak.
Notably, Manpreet Singh Badal, who began his political career with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), later joined the Congress party and is now contesting under the BJP banner. Kewal Singh Dhillon and Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon also transitioned from Congress and SAD (Badal) to BJP, respectively.