The Punjab state election committee of the BJP has decided to keep the legacy of Vinod Khanna alive by recommending his family’s name as a candidate from the Gurdaspur constituency.
The party has three seats out of 13 in its alliance with the SAD.
A senior party official, requesting anonymity, said it could be actor’s wife Kavita or his son Akshay Khanna.
“Vinod is loved in his constituency till date. The party will consider his family. The central election committee under president Amit Shah will take the final call.”
Party president Shwait Malik, accompanied by state incharge for elections Capt Abhimanyu and general secretary (organisation), are expected to meet Shah in Delhi later this week.
Meanwhile, the 15-member panel is also learnt to have recommended film actor Poonam Dhillon for the Amritsar seat. “She is an old member and has shown interest,” a senior leader said.
The names recommended for Amritsar include former Local Government minister Anil Joshi, Rajinder Singh Chinna and former IFS officer Hardeep Singh Puri.
Besides the Khanna family, the names recommended for Gurdaspur include former minister Mohan Lal, former state president Ashwani Sharma and state vice president Narinder Parmar.
The name of Swaran Salaria, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha bypoll against Sunil Jakhar, was taken, but it found no support as he had lost by a big margin.
The names of Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla, MLA Som Parkash and former chairman of the Punjab Scheduled Caste Commission Rajesh Bagga have been recommended for the Hoshiarpur seat.