Punjab: Seat-swapping on agenda of Amit Shah and Badals meet
Bharatiya Janata Party's President Amit Shah is set to meet Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)'s patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday. Reportedly at the meeting, the Akalis and local BJP leadership are going to push for swapping of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar Lok Sabha seats. The suggestion is being considered after SAD-BJP's embarrassing defeat at recently held Assembly by-polls.
In Jalandhar, the voter base is urban, that is traditionally the BJP's stronghold. On the other hand, Hoshiarpur has more rural voters. As part of the coalition formula, SAD contested from Jalandhar, but never won. The urban population rarely votes for the Akalis. Currently, the Hoshiarpur seat is represented by BJP's Vijay Sampla, Union minister of state.
Belonging from Jalandhar, Vijay Sampla won the Hoshiarpur seat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. An Akali Dal member said it became possible because of the party's lead in rural-dominated areas. Giving the Jalandhar seat to Sampla may mean he can curtail anti-incumbency too. Earlier, SAD raised demands to contest from Amritsar seat since the city was religious capital of Sikhs.
"Our party's national president is meeting the SAD leadership on various coalition-related issues with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on the main agenda. Every political aspect of parliamentary elections is likely to be discussed," said Shwait Malik, BJP state chief. The meeting is expected to last for two hours, followed by lunch. After Badals, Shah is also set to meet non-political figures of Chandigarh.
