Akalis field Sukhbir Badal's wife from Bathinda

Chandigarh, March 26 (IANS) Setting up the stage for a direct battle of the two leading political dynasties in Punjab, the ruling Akali Dal Thursday announced Harsimrat Kaur, wife of Akali Dal president and Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, as the party's candidate for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat.

She will face Congress candidate Raninder Singh, son of former chief minister Amarinder Singh.

With no love lost between Amarinder Singh and the Badal family in Punjab politics, the contest on the Bathinda seat will be the focus of the parliamentary elections in Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats.

Both Raninder and Harsimrat are newcomers to the political arena.

Bathinda in south-west Punjab is one of the backward areas of the state.

Harsimrat is the daughter-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Her brother, Bikram Singh Majithia, who is an Akali Dal legislator, had quit as cabinet minister in the Badal government in January to make way for his brother-in-law Sukhbir Badal's entry into the Punjab cabinet as deputy chief minister.

Punjab will go to polls in two phases - May 7 and May 13.