Punjab polls: Kejriwal, Gul Panag, Kumar Vishwas star campaigners for AAP

Chandigarh: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bollywood actress Gul Panag, poet Kumar Vishwas and Dalit activist Bant Singh Jhabbar have figured in the list of 40 star campaigners who will canvass for Aam Admi Party (AAP) ahead of Punjab assembly elections to be held on February 4.

As per the list which has been submitted to the Election Commission, senior leader Sanjay Singh, Bhagwant Mann, H S Phoolka and Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi will also be seen in the electioneering, an AAP leader said here today.

Kejriwal, who was in Punjab till yesterday, covered various assembly constituencies in Patiala, Jalandhar, Pathankot and Tarn Taran and sought votes for the party while "promising moon" to restrain SAD-BJP and Congress from coming to power in the state.

During campaigning, Kejriwal accused Badals and Congress of being hand-in glove and protecting each other.

AAP has also made Jhabbar, a prominent Dalit activist who joined the party in December, a star campaigner. Jhabbar, a former CPI(ML) leader who had lost his arms and a leg in a deadly assault, had launched a struggle against caste bias and oppression in 2006, making him an icon of Dalit upsurge. Notably, Punjab has over 30 per cent Dalit population.

Actress Gul Panag, who unsuccessfully contested 2014 Lok Sabha polls, would also be campaigning during the Punjab assembly polls, AAP leader said.

Among other star campaigners include Bhagwant Mann who is pitted against Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal from Jalalabad, Jarnail Singh who is contesting against Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi and Himmat Singh Shergill, who has been fielded against cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

Bains brothers from Ludhiana -- Simarjeet Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains -- whose Lok Insaf Party is contesting polls in alliance with AAP, are also star campaigners.

The list of star campaigners also feature Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, Somnath Bharti, Sanjeev Jha, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Jassi Jasraj, Aman Arora, Baljinder Kaur among others. AAP is locked in a triangular fight with the Congress and SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab.