Amid a landslide victory in the state, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed a gain in Doaba, the hub of Dalit politics, by clinching 10 of total 23 seats in the region comprising four districts, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar and Kapurthala, in the assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Thursday. The Congress has won nine seats in the region. It has won half of its total seats secured across the state from the Doaba region. The BJP has won a total of two seats in the state, including one from Doaba.
In the 2017 polls, AAP had won just two seats, Bholath and Garhshankar, while the tally has touched 10 now. Similarly, the Congress which had won 15 seats in 2017, managed to secure only nine this time. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished with just one seat each.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has managed to open its account in the state by winning Nawanshahr seat in SBS Nagar. In 1997, BSP’s Shingara Ram won the Garhshankar seat while it will be the first time that a BSP MLA will be part of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
In Doaba region, AAP gave best performance in Hoshiarpur district where it has won five of the seven assembly seats. The party retained the Garhshankar seat, where MLA Jai Krishan Rori registered his second consecutive win. Former Congress ministers Sunder Sham Arora and Sangat Singh Gilzian suffered defeat in Hoshiarpur and Urmur, respectively. From Sham Chaurasi, AAP’s Ravjot Singh defeated Congress’ Pawan Kumar Adia by 20,991 votes, the highest margin in the region. BJP’s Jangi Lal Mahajan won from Mukerian, only seat in the region for the saffron party.
In Jalandhar district, AAP won four seats, Nakodar, Kartarpur, Jalandhar central and Jalandhar west, of the total nine, whereas five went to Congress’ kitty -- Jalandhar cantonment, Jalandhar north, Phillaur, Adampur and Shahkot. Punjab sports minister and hockey Olympian Pargat Singh defeated former hockey Olympian and AAP candidate Surinder Singh Sodhi from the Jalandhar cantonment seat where Pargat was trailing in the initial trends. Later, he recovered the lead and secured the seat with 5,808 votes. Meanwhile, AAP’s Sheetal Aungral defeated Congress MLA and his arch rival Sushil Kumar Rinku by 4,253 votes. Similarly, AAP’s Inderjit Kaur Mann defeated SAD’s Gurpratap Singh Wadala by 2,869 votes. From Jalandhar central constituency, AAP’s Raman Arora defeated Rajinder Beri of the Congress with just 247 votes, the lowest winning margin in the region.
{{/usCountry}}In Jalandhar district, AAP won four seats, Nakodar, Kartarpur, Jalandhar central and Jalandhar west, of the total nine, whereas five went to Congress’ kitty -- Jalandhar cantonment, Jalandhar north, Phillaur, Adampur and Shahkot. Punjab sports minister and hockey Olympian Pargat Singh defeated former hockey Olympian and AAP candidate Surinder Singh Sodhi from the Jalandhar cantonment seat where Pargat was trailing in the initial trends. Later, he recovered the lead and secured the seat with 5,808 votes. Meanwhile, AAP’s Sheetal Aungral defeated Congress MLA and his arch rival Sushil Kumar Rinku by 4,253 votes. Similarly, AAP’s Inderjit Kaur Mann defeated SAD’s Gurpratap Singh Wadala by 2,869 votes. From Jalandhar central constituency, AAP’s Raman Arora defeated Rajinder Beri of the Congress with just 247 votes, the lowest winning margin in the region.
{{/usCountry}}Kapurthala was the only district across the state where AAP failed to open its account as the Congress registered victory over three seats out of four. Rana Gurjit Singh retained his Kapurthala seat and his son, Rana Inder Pratap Singh bagged Sultanpur Lodhi, who contested as an Independent candidate, while official Congress nominee and sitting MLA Navtej Singh Cheema was at a distant fourth. Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira defeated his arch rival Jagir Kaur by 9,225 votes for the second time in the fifth direct contest at Bholath seat.
In SBS Nagar, BSP candidate Nachttar Pal defeated AAP candidate Lalit Mohan Pathak from the Nawanshahr constituency, whereas SAD retained its Banga seat from where Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi won while AAP debuted in the district by winning the Balachaur seat. Party’s candidate Santosh Kataria defeated SAD’s Sunita Chaudhary. In eight reserved seats of the Doaba region, Congress managed to win four seats, Phillaur, Adampur, Phagwara and Chabbewal, while AAP won three seats Kartarpur, Jalandhar west and Sham Chaurasi. The SAD managed only one seat.
Congress’ Pargat Singh said, “We have accepted the people’s verdict whereas they have given a mandate against the Congress and SAD while there has been a need for introspection and strengthening the party.”