Five-time Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, 94, whose candidature was announced by SAD president Aukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday, will be the oldest contestant in any election in the country. Earlier, this record was held by former Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan who had contested assembly election in 2016 at the age of 92 years.

For the last over five decades, SAD patron Badal had been an integral part of the party’s election campaign and a source of strength for it. Such is his charisma that even at 94 years of age, SAD feels the need for his presence in the electoral fight. He was reluctant earlier but agreed to contest to restore the party’s prestige.

SAD faced its worst drubbing in the 2017 assembly elections when it could barely win 15 seats and lost the tag of the main opposition party, which was grabbed by new entrant Aam Aadmi Party by winning 20 seats. SAD does not want to take any risks this time and is banking on senior Badal’s name to get its core vote bank in rural Punjab back with the party. Insiders claim that though Badal may be restricted to campaigning in his constituency, Lambi, his presence on the electoral scene will be a big boost for the party.

Since the 1969 assembly polls, the senior Badal had always been at the helm of affairs in both parliamentary and assembly polls. On the personal front, he has never lost any election, registering 10 consecutive victories. The first five from 1969 to 1985 from the Gidderbaha assembly constituency and the next five from 1997 to 2017 from the Lambi assembly seat. He won his first election from the Malout seat in 1957 and then had narrowly lost to Harcharan Singh Brar from Gidderbaha in 1967.

(With inputs from agencies)