BJP leaders prepare to announce candidate for Ludhiana West assembly bypoll in Punjab as party expresses confidence in winning.

Ludhiana: As the political tempo rises in Ludhiana West following the announcement of byelection, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says it is prepared for the electoral showdown, with only the official candidate yet to be named.

Senior party members say the announcement will be made within days. "From our side, ‘Band, baja, baraat' is ready — only the groom is awaited," a local BJP bigwig said, invoking a wedding metaphor to signal that the party's campaign machinery is primed and field operations are well on course.

The BJP has intensified its activities with frequent worker meetings and constituency-level mobilisation. A recent gathering on Saturday saw bigwigs energise grassroots workers ahead of what is shaping into a four-way fight. The party has fielded candidates in Ludhiana West since 2012 — Rajinder Bhandhari (2012), Kamal Chaitly (2017), and Bikram Sidhu (2022) — but is yet to register a win in the constituency.

Despite past losses, the BJP has expressed renewed optimism. According to party officials, the saffron outfit drew the highest number of votes in Ludhiana West in the recent parliamentary election. BJP candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu secured 45,424 votes in the constituency, outpacing Congress' Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (30,889 votes) and AAP's Ashok Prashar Pappi (22,461 votes). The Shiromani Akali Dal trailed with just 5,560 votes.

"In BJP, we work through a system," said state general secretary Anil Sareen. "We don't declare candidates before election dates are finalised. But with dates announced, our candidate will soon be named." Sareen has added that while rival parties are focused on social media campaigns, the BJP's strength lies in ground-level engagement. "We've been conducting indoor meetings, and our workers are fully energised," he claimed.

In the 2022 assembly election, BJP's Bikram Sidhu earned about 24% of the total vote share in the constituency — a modest showing, but one the party sees as a foundation for future gains. Party insiders say they hope to capitalise on the discontent with both AAP and Congress, and make a strong play for the seat long held by rival forces.

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