FARIDKOT:
AAP party Punjab has announced Sushil Kumar Rinku as its candidate from Jalandhar parliament seat.
The 47 years old Rinku, a turncoat,had joined AAP on April 5 after congress had expelled him from the party for his alleged anti party activities.
The nomination of Rinku as AAP official candidate has been declared by Dr Sandeep Parthak, the general secretary of the party organization today.
Criticizing Rinku’s candiatature,the congress has tweeted,”The party which claims to be the party of volunteers,could not find a single suitable member from the volunteers?
Rinku was elected an MLA on the congress ticket in 2017 from Jalandhar west but lost to AAP’s Sheetal Angalal by a margin of about 4253 votes in 2022.
The Jalandhar parliamentary seat is reserved and 8 assembly segments fall under it, out of which agains 4 are reserved.
It was earlier with congress and was vacated due to the death of Chaudhry Santokh Singh during the Punjab leg Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar.
This is a prestigious by-election for the AAP who has been widely under fire for the law and order situation in Punjab.
AAP candidate Gurmail Singh had lost to SAD(A) Simranjeet Singh Mann in Sangrur by elections in June last year with a margin of about 5782 votes.
If the party wanted to reassert itself after the fall of its popularity in a year, this election is a litmus test for the party.