According to party's local unit president Shivi Jaiswal, though the party had urged Raj Babbar for contesting from Chandigarh, the three names had been sent to the party's central parliamentary board, headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Jaiswal heades the party's Election Committee for Chandigarh.

Jaiswal hoped that the forthcoming polls would prove a boon for forces against the Congress and BJP -- linking the Congress to corruption and BJP to communalism -- which the SP leader said had harmed the nation over the years.

He added that the SP would raise the issues of Kargil conflict and that of Sonia Gandhi's origin before the public, besides highlighting issues like the failure of the BJP-SAD combine in the Municipal Corporation and poor supply of electricity and water in the forthcoming polls. The SP would also press for the extension of lal dora, amendment in building bylaws, rehabilitation of slum dwellers and improvement in law and order in the City, he added.