The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Thursday declared businessman Swarn Singh Salariya as its candidate for the Gurdaspur by-election to be held on October 11. He will face Major General (Retd) Suresh Khajuria of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar.
The bypoll is scheduled for October 11 and the result will be announced on October 15. The last date of submission of nomination papers is Friday (September 22).
"Swarn Singh Salariya will be the BJP candidate for the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency bypoll," said Punjab BJP secretary Vineet Joshi.
The bypoll has been necessitated by the death of actor Vinod Khanna, who was the sitting MP. Khanna died of cancer at a hospital in Mumbai on April 27 this year.
Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, a stronghold of the BJP, was won by actor-turned-politician Khanna for four-times.
Kavita Khanna, wife of the late BJP MP, was also considered a front-runner for the party ticket. She had been participating in the party meetings in Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency.
Who is Swarn Singh Salariya
Salariya is a native of Chauhana village in Gurdaspur. Salariya, a Mumbai-based millionaire businessman, has interests in hospitality, aviation and other sectors.
He was considered one of the probable BJP candidates from Gurdaspur before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well. However, the party chose Vinod Khanna, who went on to win the seat.
