Chandigarh: After the death of famous actor Vinod Khanna, who was the most prominent face of the BJP in Punjab, the saffron party could field the late actor’s wife, Kavita Khanna, as its candidate for the seat for which byelection is due.

Local BJP workers have also backed her name. The Gurdaspur seat is considered a stronghold of the BJP, after the entry of Vinod Khanna, a four-time MP, who was also known as bridge man in the area. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and went on to retain the seat till 2009, when he lost to the then Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa. In 2014, he was chosen to contest the election and re-claimed the seat with a vote margin of 1.36 lakh. Now with byelection to the seat due, sources in BJP said Ms Khanna is an obvious choice.