According to the schedule, elections in Punjab will be held in two phases along with Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Orissa. The state will go for polls in the fourth and the fifth phase, on May 7 and 13. Elections in Ludhiana will be held on May 13.

Post delimitation, Ludhiana district will now have 14 assembly constituencies instead of 12. Ludhiana (Rural), the largest assembly segment in Punjab, with over 3.5 lakh voters, Kila Raipur and Koom Kalan constituencies are not there any longer, while the new constituencies of Gill Chowk, Atam Nagar, Ludhiana (Central) and Ludhiana (South) have been newly created in the district.

Raikot, Khanna, Samrala and Payal have been included in the newly carved out Fatehgarh Sahib (reserved) parliamentary constituency. Gill and Jagraon will be reserved for scheduled caste contestants while Dakha has been re-categorised as a general constituency.

Senior Akali leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi’s hometown Raikot and former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s stronghold Payal have been reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.

The battle lines for the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency are more or less clear, with Manish Tewari from the Congress and Gurcharan Singh Ghalib from SAD(B) pitted against each other.

When asked about when his party would announce the final names of candidates, Tewari said: “We are last on the laundry list and have enough time on our hands. The party will announce its list shortly. For Punjab, we have 70 days to campaign.”

Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, who had recently defected from the Congress said: “Now, the actual work starts. My poll campaign will be formally launched now and we already have the schedule of meetings clearly marked out.”

Ghalib, who has been a staunch Congressman till his defection to the SAD (BJP) recently, remarked: “It has not been easy, but the reality is that Congress has never done anything for Punjab and its people, be it be the issue of Punjabi language or Chandigarh. It is now for the people to decide whether my decision to leave the party was correct or not.”

Galib a non-entity in Jagraon: Cong
JAGRAON:Congress MLAs Gurdeep Singh Bhaini from Jagraon and MLA Darshan Singh Brar from Baghapurana in Moga, in a joint statement issued today said Gurcharan Singh Galib is a political non-entity without any support. They said he was exposed after he deserted the Congress to contest from the SAD-BJP ticket.

Ludhiana Parliamentary Constituency at a glance
1951: Bahadur Singh, Indian National Congress
1957: Ajit Singh Sarhadi, Indian National Congress
1962: Sardar Kapur Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal
1967: Devinder Singh Garcha, Indian National Congress
1971: Devinder Singh Garcha, Indian National Congress
1977: Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Akali Dal
1980: Devinder Singh Garcha, Indian National Congress
1984: Mewa Singh Gill, Akali Dal
1989: Rajinder Kaur Bulara, Shiromani Akali Dal
1991: Gurcharan Singh Galib, Indian National Congress
1996: Amrik Singh Aliwal, Shiromani Akali Dal
1998: Amrik Singh Aliwal, Shiromani Akali Dal
1999: Gurcharan Singh Galib, Indian National Congress
2004: Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Shiromani Akali Dal