Punjab polls: HS Poolkha, Himmat Singh Shergill may figure in AAP's first list

New Delhi: Senior lawyers HS Poolkha and Himmat Singh Shergill may find place in Aam Aadmi Party's first list of candidates for Punjab Assembly polls.

Party sources said the first list of 23 candidates is likely to be announced in a day or two.

Poolkha, who had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha polls from Ludhiana on an AAP ticket, is one of the main legal brains in the party.

The senior lawyer has led a campaign to get justice for 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims and could be a strong contender for being projected as the party's chief ministerial face.

Shergill had also unsuccessfully contested on AAP ticket from Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

"Our list of 23 candidates is ready and the announcement can happen anytime soon now. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also given his consent," a party leader said.

Interestingly, if the list is announced this week, it will be in the absence of Kejriwal, who is on a vipassana sojourn.

AAP's Punjab co-convenor Durgesh Pathak is also away, attending a vipassana course.

In releasing the list of candidates well ahead of the polling schedules being announced, the party intends to replicate the Delhi story.

When it contested its maiden elections in the national capital in 2013, AAP had declared candidates way before the polling schedules were announced.

"This gave us an edge over others in terms of campaigning and chalking out strategy for each constituency," said a party leader.