Chandigarh: In an effort to send a clear message that the party is decisive, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has stumped rivals by announcing candidates for two-third of the 97 seats it plans to contest for the upcoming 2022 assembly polls.While the first list of 64 candidates was announced last month and six names were later added, the latest announcement of four names was made on Tuesday, October 19, thereby taking the total count to 74 candidates.Party spokesperson Daljeet Cheema told the media that the remaining 23 names will soon be cleared.The move is seen as a clear tactical shift in SAD’s election strategy after it was pushed to the wall in the 2017 assembly election, which saw it get its lowest ever tally, 15 seats. The party even lost the position of leader of opposition to AAP in the assembly.In order to revive itself, SAD first inked pact with Bahujan Samaj Party earlier this year in June, with the hope of creating a new social coalition of Jat-Dalits to wrest power after its time-tested formula of Jat-Hindu coalition broke when it walked out of the NDA last year and snapped its two-decade long ties with Bharatiya Janata Party over the farm laws.Now, by announcing early candidates, SAD hopes to get a crucial head start over rivals quite early into the campaign phase of the next election.Also read: Why Did SAD Stay Away From the Unified Opposition on Pegasus Issue?At the same time, SAD has attempted to send the message that there is no internal rivalry or a question of leadership within the party which has taken on Congress and even AAP over a purported lack of chief ministerial candidates in these two parties.The Punjab assembly has a total of 117 seats. While SAD will fight on 97 seats, the remaining 20 seats are for BSP, which is already in the process of finalising its candidates, according to BSP state unit chief Jasvir Singh Garhi.His candidature has already been announced from Phagwara, a reserved assembly seat in Jalandhar district.On the other hand, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal will contest from Jalalabad of Punjab’s Fazilka district.Sukhbir won from Jalalabad in 2012 and 2017 but resigned from the seat in 2019 to contest the Lok Sabha election from Ferozepur, which he won. In the consequent by-poll, Congress’s Raminder Awla wrested the seat from SAD’s control.SAD is, meanwhile, yet to announce the seat from which its patriarch and five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal will contest.Several new faces in SAD list SAD has 18 new faces in its list so far. The candidates who will be contesting on a SAD ticket for the first time include former BJP minister Anil Joshi who has been fielded from Amritsar North, the constituency he represented as a saffron party legislator earlier, and Raj Kumar Gupta, another former BJP leader, from Sujanpura constituency.Party President S. Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the candidature of S. Baldev Singh Mann from Sunam constituency, S. Gobind Singh Longowal from Lehragaga, Shri. Harpal Juneja from Patiala (Urban) and S. Hardev Singh Megh (Gobindgarh) from Balluana for the Assembly elections. pic.twitter.com/0GT26Sxi8l— Shiromani Akali Dal (@Akali_Dal_) October 19, 2021The other fresh faces include former Congress leaders Harpal Juneja (Patiala), Jagmeet Singh Brar (Maur), Jagbir Singh Brar (Jalandhar Cantonment) and Hans Raj Josan (Fazilka).The youngsters among the new faces include Youth Akali Dal secretary general Sarabjot Singh Sabi (Mukerian), Paramjit Singh Dhillon (Samrala), Gulzar Singh Gulzari (Dirba), and Dilbari Kulwant Kanta (Barnala).On how SAD’s early announcement strategy would work, Dr Pramod Kumar, a political commentator and director of Chandigarh-based Institute of Development and Communication (IDC), told The Wire that this has sent a clear message to party cadre as well as voters at large that there is no leadership crisis within the party unlike Congress and AAP.He said with early announcement of candidates, SAD has already prepared itself well in advance for the election. SAD candidates can start campaigning in full gear as soon as the elections are announced. On the contrary, other parties are still stuck at the level of organisational reforms and the process of ticket churning is nowhere to start.In Congress for example, ticket aspirants are at a loss as to whom to approach – Navjot Singh Sidhu who recently resigned as PCC president, CM Charanjit Singh Channi or the party’s Delhi leadership, Kumar said.Also read: How Will Amarinder Singh’s New Party Affect the Political Winds in Punjab?“BJP, which will fight alone, is also in the middle of confusion over finding suitable candidates,” he added.Pramod said that in the past almost all political parties have announced candidates months before the election, so candidates had enough time to meet the public. In the last few years, the selection of candidates has become chaotic due to late announcements followed by rebellions and exits.“At least SAD could avoid such a situation this time since their candidates will be well settled by the time elections are announced. Any situation with other aspirants may also be dealt with in a timely manner,” he addedPerception management still a concernPolitical pundits, however, say that early announcement of candidates alone may not be enough for SAD. It has a lot of work in hand in terms of perception management around issues that resulted in its defeat in the last election.Key among them is reconnecting with its core vote base – Sikhs – a connection which many believe was diluted during the last election after allegations of complacency while dealing with sacrilege related issues rocked the state in 2015 when SAD was in power with BJP.Also read: Amidst a Resignation and Anti-Incumbency, It’s Hard to Miss AAP’s Surge in PunjabBesides, its ‘soft’ approach on the sand and liquor mafia and the allegation that it protected the drug mafia during its rule also affected the party’s vote base.Besides, generating employment and agriculture diversification are other core issues where the party’s clear vision is missing.As it enters poll mode, how it convinces voters to forget the very issues that led to its downfall in the 2017 elections will be keenly watched.Meanwhile, SAD has been backing farm protests since the beginning. The state is in desperate need of pro-farmer and pro-labour policies to increase their income and at the same time protect the ecology of the state that has suffered massively due to dwindling ground water levels.