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LIP, Bains brothers staring at political oblivion after heavy defeat in Punjab elections
The Bains brothers -- Simarjeet and Balwinder Singh Bains -- lost their deposits, as did the rest of the 35 LIP candidates contesting the 2022 Punjab elections
Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), led by Bains brothers who harboured aspirations to expand their influence across the state, took a major hit with both two-time MLAs Simarjeet Singh Bains and his elder brother Balwinder Singh Bains facing embarrassing losses in their respective constituencies of Atam Nagar and Ludhiana (South). Both segments were considered strongholds.
The results announced on Thursday bore bad news for the party, with all of its 37 candidates, including Bains brothers, performing badly in their respective assembly segments. All candidates have even lost their security deposits.
With no representative in the state assembly -- down from two in 2017 -- the LIP is now staring at its lowest point.
Political journey
Balwinder Bains started his political career after being elected as a councillor in 1991. His brother Simarjeet, won his first election, also as a councillor, in 2002. He had earlier tasted defeat in his first attempt in 1997.
The 2012 assembly elections were a tipping point in both the Bains brothers’ political careers, with them winning from Atam Nagar and Ludhiana (South) as independents.
In the intervening years, their presumably dictatorial style of functioning led to them suffering small losses with their close aides and friends turning foes.
Those who left Bains included former councillors Parminder Soma, Jagbir Sokhi, Gupreet Gora, Sher Singh Garcha. Kamaljit Karwal, who was once the close aide of Simarjeet has contested against him in the last two assembly elections on a Congress ticket. The Aam Aadmi Party’s winning candidate from Ludhiana (East), Daljit Grewal (Bhola), was also once part of Simarjeet’s inner circle.
Registered complaints -- including 16 FIRs for alleged rape, attempt to murder, robbery, criminal intimidation -- against Simarjeet Bains severely damaged the duo’s image and had an obvious impact on their electoral performanc.
The apparent lack of development in their respective constituencies further added to their downfall.
Simarjeet, who had secured 51,063 votes in 2012 assembly elections, shared a fickle relationship with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership during his early years, but eventually formed his own party, the LIP, in 2016.
His vote share increased to 53,421, in 2017 when LIP contested the elections in an alliance with AAP. The vote share in the 2022 elections, however, has dropped drastically with Simarjeet only securing a paltry 12,720 votes.
Balwinder, meanwhile, could rake in only 11,906 votes, down from 49,594 votes in 2012 and 53,955 in 2017.
Rumours were rife that LIP could stitch an alliance with Congress or even the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2022 elections, but that did not go through.
The duo lost to AAP candidates Kulwant Sidhu in Atam Nagar and Rajinder Pal Kaur Chhina Ludhiana (South). While Simarjeet was placed third in his segment, Balwinder dropped to the fourth position.
Before the formation of LIP, Simarjeet unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Ludhiana as an independent candidate and was placed fourth by securing 2,10,917 votes.
He also lost the Lok Sabha election in 2019, but his vote share increased considerably to 3,07,423. He lost both the elections to Congress’ Ravneet Bittu.
Despite attempts being made to reach for comments on the results, they remained unavailable for comments.
