Dakha win clear sign that SAD will form next govt: Dhillon

After staging a comeback in the Dakha bypoll, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders are geared up and claiming that they are going to form the next government in the

After staging a comeback in the Dakha bypoll, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders are geared up and claiming that they are going to form the next government in the state.

Former minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon (fourth from left) and other SAD leaders honouring Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali (centre) during a press conference in Ludhiana on Saturday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

While addressing a press conference held to congratulate newly elected MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, SAD MLA and former cabinet minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said the verdict in the bypoll had proved that people were fed up with the Congress regime.

“Bypoll results are a clear signal that people have decided to bring the SAD government back to power,” said Dhillon.

“This is also a vote against the Congress party’s politics of oppression,” Dhillon said, adding, “While a party worker accused cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu of assaulting him, MLAs like Kulbir Singh Zira and Barinderjit Singh Pahra also courted controversy by allegedly threatening people of the constituency.”

“All this worked against the Congress party and the voters rejected the party candidate Captain Sandeep Singh Sandhu,” said Dhillon.

According to observes, the victory in the bypoll has bought many positives for the panthic party, which is scrambling to regain its lost ground.

Going by the records, the party has managed to garner more votes from Mullanpur Dakha, considered to be the stronghold of the Congress.

The town of Mullanpur Dakha has a total of 8,200 votes. However, in an utter surprise for the Congress, Ayali managed to get 4,357 votes, whereas the grand old party got only 3,299 votes.

Akalis also registered a lead in Pamal, where the maternal ancestors of Ashu used to live.

Ashu was the in-charge of this village. Pamal has a total of 2,703 voters, of which Congress could manage to garner only 594 whereas Ayali got 1,209 votes.

Similarly, in the Aliwal village, SAD registered a lead of 113 votes. The village belongs to veteran Congress leader Amrik Singh Aliwal. In villages such as Sarabha and Dhaipai, where MLA from Zira Kulbir Singh Zira and Congress MLA Gurdaspur Barinderjit Singh Pahra were in-charge, SAD had trounced over Congress.