E-Paper
Punjab electors cut turncoats to size
Of 14 defectors who joined the four major parties in the past two-and-a-half years, only two have won — Dr Raj Kumar and Dr Dharamvira Gandhi
A majority of turncoats failed to secure seats for their new parties in Punjab on Tuesday.
Of the 14 turncoats who joined four major parties in the past two-and-a-half years and were rewarded with tickets, only two won their seats, whereas three others finished second. Those who won include Dr Raj Kumar of the AAP from Hoshiarpur and Dr Dharamvira Gandhi of the Congress.
Kumar had joined the ruling party from the Congress in March this year. A two-time MLA from Chabbewal, he was the deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the state assembly, and his sudden switch had left the party leaders stunned. He has defeated Congress nominee Yamini Gomar by 44,111 votes. Gomar had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election on AAP ticket from the same seat in 2014 and joined the Congress two years later.
Gandhi, who has defeated Dr Balbir Singh of the AAP by a slender margin of 14,831 votes, had made his Lok Sabha debut from the AAP in 2014 before he fell out with party leadership. The former MP later floated his separate outfit which he merged with the Congress on April 1 this year.
The turncoats, who finished runners-up, include Sushil Kumar Rinku and Ravneet Singh Bittu of the BJP and Gurpreet Singh GP of the AAP. Of these, Rinku was the most conspicuous party-hopper, having changed parties twice in one year. Starting as the Congress MLA from Jalandhar West in 2017, Rinku switched to AAP in April 2023 ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated by the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. He won the seat to become the lone MP of the AAP in the lower house. After the party named him as its candidate from Jalandhar, he switched to the BJP on March 27. He has lost to Congress’ Charanjit Channi by a whopping 1.75 lakh votes. The other defectors just proved to be duds for their new parties.
