In Doaba, 9 of 18 assembly segments kept Cong ahead
The Aam Aadmi Party has got a big vote share in four assembly constituencies, while the BJP has recorded a good performance in five assembly segments.
Winning the reserved Lok Sabha constituencies of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar, the Congress has proved its dominance in nine assembly segments of the total 18 in the Doaba region. While the BJP got a good vote share from five assembly constituencies, four segments supported the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Of the nine assembly segments that vehemently supported Charanjit Singh Channi, ensuring his victory by a margin of 1.75 lakh votes, seven are in the rural pocket. The Congress had a direct contest with the ruling AAP in six rural assembly segments, while in the urban constituencies its major opponent was the BJP.
In the Dalit-dominant Doaba politics, Channi, who was the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab, emerged as a prominent face from the community. Channi got 3,90,053 votes while BJP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku got 2,14,060 votes. Last year, Rinku, then with AAP, had won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection.
The Congress registered a lead of 20,673 votes in Nakodar. In Phillaur, which is represented by Channi’s bete noire and rebel Congress MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, Channi’s lead was by 19,555 votes.
In Shahkot, another rural segment represented by Congress MLA Herdev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, Channi’s lead was 18,893. In Kartarpur from where AAP cabinet minister Balkar Singh was managing the campaign, Tinu’s loss margin was 16,052 votes.
Channi went ahead with 16,356 votes in Jalandhar Cantt segment while in Adampur, another rural belt, the Congress added 14,071 to its lead. In Jalandhar West, a BJP stronghold, Channi got a meagre lead of 1,557 votes.
Meanwhile, the BJP managed to get lead of 3,733 and 5,986 from two urban assembly segments of Jalandhar Centre and Jalandhar North, respectively. In 2019, the Congress had registered victory on six seats, while three went to the then SAD-BJP alliance.
During the parliamentary bypolls in Jalandhar last year, AAP had bagged a considerable vote share in seven constituencies while the BJP got hold of two of the urban segments.
In Hoshiarpur, Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who joined AAP from the Congress just before the polls, got the better of Congress’ Yamini Gomar by a margin of 44,111 votes, but the party managed to see lead in only four assembly segments.
Chabbewal polled 3,03,859 votes, followed by Gomar (2,59,748 votes). BJP’s Anita Som Prakash got 1,99,994 votes while SAD’s Sohan Singh Thandal lost his security deposit as his vote share was 91,789.
Of the total nine assembly constituencies, the BJP and the Congress got lead from three and two segments, respectively. For Raj Kumar, his home constituency Chabbewal gave him a lead by 26,771 votes.
Bholath, represented by Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, went with AAP with a thin margin of 759 votes, while the BJP lost its stronghold segment of Phagwara to Chabbewal with a margin of 2,593 votes. In Sham Churasi, the AAP remained ahead with 2,268 votes.
The BJP, though lost its ground in its bastion, managed to get hold of three of the Hindu dominant constituencies. Anita Som Parkash got lead of 11,074 votes in Mukerian, 4,043 in Dasuya and 1,707 in Hoshiarpur.
In Sri Hargobingpur and Urmar, the Congress was ahead by 6,303 and 3,034 votes, respectively.
In 2019, the Congress got lead from five assembly segments and BJP from four.
