Ludhiana, June 1 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named Jiwan Gupta, a senior party functionary and first-time electoral candidate, as its pick for the Ludhiana West byelection on Saturday, just two days before the nomination deadline of June 2.

Having served as vice-president, general secretary and secretary of the Punjab BJP, Gupta is a core group member of the saffron party in the state.

With the announcement of his candidature, the assembly constituency is set for a high-stakes, four-way battle. Gupta takes on Congress heavyweight and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman - who, like Gupta, is c...