New Delhi, Jan 21: The BJP on Friday released its first list of 34 candidates, including 13 Sikhs, for the election to the 117-member Punjab assembly.

Releasing the list, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh said the party has given representation to all sections of society, and the first list included 12 persons from farmer families, eight from Scheduled Castes, and professionals.

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The names include former minister Manoranjan Kalia, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, a sitting MLA who quit the Congress to join the party recently, Arvind Khanna and Kanwarveer Singh Tohra, the grandson of late Akali stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra.

Speaking on the occasion, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri slammed the Congress government in the state and said Punjab was the nation's pride but things have taken a turn for the worse there.

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Assembly polls will be held in the state on February 20. The BJP is fighting the polls in alliance with former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt).

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