The BJP on Tuesday announced the candidatures of Anita Som Prakash from Hoshiarpur, former IAS officer and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sikander Singh Maluka’s daughter-in-law Parampal Kaur Sidhu from Bathinda and former Baba Bakala MLA Manjeet Singh Manna Mianwind from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

With the announcement of these three candidates, the BJP has announced the nominees for nine of the 13 constituencies in Punjab that goes to the polls on June 1.

The party is yet to announce its candidates for Anandpur Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ferozepur Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP fielded outgoing member of Parliament Som Parkash’s wife Anita from its traditional stronghold of Hoshiarpur, a reserved seat for Scheduled Caste candidates.

A retired IAS officer from the Ravidassia community, Som Prakash is the Union minister of state for commerce and industries at present. The party decided to nominate his wife instead of him, considering the age factor as at 75 years, he is the oldest minister in the Narendra Modi-led central government.

Anita is 70 and considered the brain behind Parkash’s political career. She has been running a rasoi (community kitchen) for needy families in Phagwara for the past two decades.

The Hoshiarpur reserved seat is considered a BJP stronghold and the party has won the constituency for the past two terms.

In Bathinda, the BJP settled for former IAS officer Parampal Kaur, who is the daughter-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sikander Singh Maluka, as the candidate from the seat where she will face former Union minister and three-time sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Harsimrat is the wife of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

For Khadoor Sahib, the saffron party picked former Baba Bakala MLA Manjeet Singh Manna Mianwind.