Punjab Key Candidates

The Akali patriarch has a political career spanning more than seven decades that began in 1947 as a sarpanch of his native village Badal. He is contesting from the home seat of Lambi for the sixth consecutive time. He’s been the Punjab chief minister for five terms, with the last tenure being two consecutive stints – 2007-12 and 2012-17. He was the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president from 1995-2008, and has been an MLA for a record 10 times. After being elected to the state assembly in 1957 as a Congress member, Badal called Congress the Akali’s ‘permanent enemy’ after the Emergency of 1977. Due to his age, Badal has stayed away from active campaigning this year.