Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 10 (ANI): Arvind Kejriwal, who entered the political arena in 2012, has successfully hoisted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) flag in Punjab with a record-breaking margin by winning 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly along with giving shocking defeats to several political heavyweights across the political spectrum.
Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann has won from Sangrur district’s Dhuri assembly constituency by a margin of 58,206 votes over Congress’ Dalvir Singh Goldy. He announced that his oath-taking ceremony will be held at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. Kejriwal showcased 7 years of his good governance in Delhi as a testament to declaring himself as a national alternative to the ruling BJP and replacing Congress as the principal opposition party.
The incumbent Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, who was contesting on two seats – Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, faced defeat by the AAP candidates. Channi got over 26,000 votes in the Bhadaur constituency. He lost to Aam Aadmi Party’s Labh Singh Ugoke who got over 63,000 votes. While in Chamkaur Sahib, Channi got 62,000 votes, while Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate who has a similar name – Charanjit Singh – got over 70,000 votes.
Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who quit Congress after months of infighting with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress to fight polls, also lost his Patiala bastion to AAP’s Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. Amarinder bagged over 28,000 votes while Kohli won over 48,000 votes. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Prakash Singh Badal, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab on five occasions, lost to AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Khudian on the Lambi Assembly seat by a margin of 11,396 votes.
Badal held the Chief Ministerial position in Punjab five times from 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was also defeated by AAP’s Jagdeep Kamboj by a margin of 30,930 votes.
Amritsar (East) was witnessing a key battle where Congress’s Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was the sitting MLA from the Amritsar East seat, took on former state minister and senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the other hand fielded a female candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur from the seat. AAP candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur defeated Sidhu by a margin of 6,750 votes. She also defeated Majithia on the Amritsar East Assembly seat in Punjab.
AAP’s Jagroop Singh Gill won the Bathinda Urban seat by a margin of 63,581 by defeating SAD’s Manpreet Singh Badal, who is also the Punjab Finance Minister. Punjabi Singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who joined the Congress in December last year, lost to AAP’s Dr Vijay Singla on Mansa seat by a margin of 63,323 votes.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu was also defeated by AAP’s Gurpreet Bassi Gogi on Ludhiana West by a margin of 7,512 votes. Punjab Minister Razia Sultana lost by a margin of 21,686 votes on the Malerkotla seat to AAP’s Mohammad Jamil Ur Rahman.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Om Parkash Soni also faced defeat on the Amritsar Central seat by a margin of 14,026 votes to AAP’s Ajay Gupta.
AAP has bagged a historic win in Punjab Assembly polls by winning a three-fourth majority with 92 seats, the highest seats won by any party in over four decades. It is AAP’s maiden victory in the state and a vast improvement from its performance in the 2017 elections when it had finished second behind Congress. The ruling Congress managed to secure 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with two. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has bagged three seats and Bahujan Samaj Party has won only one.
Punjab witnessed a multi-cornered contest with key players being Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh‘s Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) led by SS Dhindsa. (ANI)
