Dakha bypoll: Once a voters’ favourite, AAP bites dust this time

Its candidate Amandeep Singh Mohie secured 2,804 votes

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had won the seat in 2017 assembly elections, HS Phoolka securing 58,923 votes, this time, it had to bite the dust with its candidate Amandeep Singh Mohie securing just 2,804 votes.

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Not just has he lost, Mohie has even lost his security deposit as he failed to secure even 1/6 of the total votes polled.

When contacted, Mohie said that people of constituency had not voted for him as they were angry with Phoolka for quitting. Former MLA Phoolka had put in his papers over the Congress government’s alleged failure to act on Ranjit Singh commission’s inquiry report on desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.

Before being elected the legislator from Dakha, Phoolka had contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ludhiana constituency in 2014. He had secured 2,80,750 votes, with maximum (46,518 votes) coming from Dakha constituency, but lost to Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu.

In 2017 assembly elections, AAP had fielded Phoolka from Dakha constituency and he was elected the MLA with 58,923 votes, defeating his nearest candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali by a margin of 4,169 votes.

Compared to him, the AAP candidate from Ludhiana in 2019, had got only 15,945 votes, out of the number of votes from Dakha segment were only 2,285.