PM, Sonia, Gadkari... a host of heavyweights to visit

The list of star campaigners submitted by the political parties with the Election Commission (EC) boasts of names like from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi for the Congress, Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani, Hema Malini and Shatrugan Sinha for the BJP and Parkash Singh Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Bikramjit Majitha and Adesh Partap Singh Kairon for the Shiromani Akali Dal. In all, the three mainstream parties have submitted a list of 40 star campaigners to the EC.

The main star campaigners for the Congress are Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh.

The most interesting list is of the BJP — it has Hema Malini, Shatrugan Sinha, Simriti Irani, Kiran Kher and Navjot Sidhu as the campaigners — all party leaders as well as actors. Besides, there will be senior politicians like L K Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal as well as Shanta Kumar and Vasundhara Raje.

State BJP president Ashwani Kumar, who is also contesting from Pathankot, former ministers Laxmi Kanta Chawala and Chaudahry Sawrna Ram will also campaign for the party.

While in SAD, the alliance partner of the saffron party, most of the star campaigners belong to Punjab only. They included Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, daughter-in-law and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Sukhbir's brother-in-law and MLA Bikramjit Majitha and Adesh Partap Singh Kairon — son-in-law of Parkash Singh Badal — will also campaign. Moreover, party MPs Sukhdev Singh Dhinsa, Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Naresh Gujral also feature in the list.

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