Jalalabad (Punjab), July 13 (IANS) Punjab’s former deputy chief minister and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal Monday filed his nomination papers as the party candidate from the Jalalabad assembly seat in Punjab’s border district of Ferozepur.
Badal junior was forced to resign from his high-profile job as the state’s deputy chief minister earlier this month after he failed to fulfil the constitutional stipulation of getting elected within six months of assuming office as a minister.
He had joined the government headed by his father Parkash Singh Badal Jan 21 this year amidst much fanfare in Amritsar.
Accompanied by his father and wife and MP Harsimrat Kaur, Badal junior submitted his nomination papers to Jalalabad sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Rajiv Parashar.
The Jalalabad assembly seat fell vacant recently after the sitting Akali legislator Sher Singh Gubhaya was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ferozepur seat.
Sukhbir’s election from this seat is being seen as a foregone conclusion.
By-elections to three assembly seats in Punjab, Jalalabad, Kahnuwan (Gurdaspur) and Banur (Mohali) are scheduled to be held Aug 3.
Addressing a gathering at the local grain market here, Badal junior promised to bring development to this neglected border belt of the state.
Jalalabad is some 300 km from state capital Chandigarh.
