CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tsunami in Punjab included victory in over 85% of the reserved seats. It won 29 of these 34 constituencies.
This indicates that the state’s Scheduled Caste population reposed faith in the party which promised change.
Punjab has the largest density of SC population in the country. Over 33% of the state’s inhabitants are from these communities.
AAP’s victory in 29 of these seats is the highest-ever by any party. Congress won four and Shiromani Akali Dal one. All the SC seats in Malwa region went to AAP.
The SC population there is 31%. Leader of Opposition and AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema won from Dirba and deputy leader Sarvjit Kaur Manuke from Jagoran.
Labh Sigh Ugoke defeated Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Bhadaur and Channi also lost to Charanjit Singh from Chamkaur Sahib. Kulwant Singh Bazigar won from Shutrana, Gurdev Singh Dev Mann from Nabha and Kulwant Singh Pandori from Mehal Kalan.
The story was similar in the Doaba and Majha regions. Political analyst Professor Jagrup Singh Sekhon said, “The SC community feels this new party is better than traditional parties. They will work sincerely and implement the Delhi model, as this community feels that their children will get better education healthcare services. The Channi (who belongs to the SC community) card failed due to the poor performance of the Congress government and involvement of Channi’s relative in mining cases which is a very serious issue in the state.”
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had promised free education for children from the SC communities and also said that if voted to power, his government would bear their coaching fees for higher studies.
The SC communities have 39 sub-castes and of these, five constitute more than 80% of the SC population — Mazhabi Sikhs 30%, Ravidasias 24%, Ad Dharmis 11%, Valmikis 10% and Rai Sikhs 6%, as per a report by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment released in 2018.
Several AAP candidates emerge as giant killers in Punjab polls
A social activist, a young law graduate, a debutante, and an eye surgeon - Punjab polls gave gave birth to a number of giant killers from the AAP, who drubbed such stalwarts as Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Badals, and even the State Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Among these spectacular hits was 50-year-old Jeevanjyot Kaur, who trounced Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia from Amritsar East seat.
Kaur, a social activist, gave a crushing blow to Sidhu and Majithia, defeating the former, her nearest rival, by a margin of 6,750 votes.
"It is the victory of the people of Punjab," Kaur told PTI on Friday.
The fight for Amritsar East was seen as the mother of all electoral battles as Sidhu and Majithia - both sharp adversaries and political heavyweights -- were in the fray.
The BJP had fielded former IAS officer Jagmohan Singh Raju from this seat.
A law graduate, Kaur is also known as the 'pad woman' of Punjab.
She runs the 'EcoShe' project which promotes reusable sanitary pads, and has been also running a school for the underprivileged children for the last 26 years.
Narinder Kaur Bharaj, a 27-year-old law graduate, defeated Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur assembly seat by a margin of 36,430 votes.
Singla was the sitting legislator from Sangrur seat.
Jagdeep Kamboj, 38, defeated Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal by a margin of 30,930 votes, delivering a big blow to the political stalwart.
Kamboj, a former Congressman, had joined the AAP in 2020.
"History has been created," he said, celebrating the party's first-ever romp to power in the state.
"We will live up to the expectations of the people," said Kamboj, who had contested the Jalalabad by-election in 2019 as an Independent candidate.
Kamboj is the president of AAP's backward classes wing.
An eye surgeon, Charanjit Singh, made Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi bite the dust at his home constituency Chamkaur Sahib.
He defeated Channi by 7,942 votes from Chamkaur Sahib seat.
Labh Singh Ugoke, who once ran a mobile repair shop and whose mother is a sweeper, defeated Channi from Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes.
Ugoke, 35, comes from a humble background and is the son of a driver.
He joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a volunteer in 2013.
Fifty-nine-year-old Gurmeet Singh Khuddian defeated SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal at his home turf, Lambi Seat, by a margin of 11,396 votes.
Badal, 94, was the oldest candidate in the fray and was eyeing to become an MLA for the 12th time.
Khuddian, the son of former MP late Jagdev Singh Khuddian, had joined the AAP after quitting the Congress last year.
AAP candidate Ajit Pal Singh Kohli trounced two-time chief minister Amarinder Singh from Congress by 19,873 votes.
Kohli, the former Patiala mayor, had joined the AAP after quitting the Akali Dal in January this year.
The Aam Aadmi Party won 92 of the 117 assembly seats, defeating the Congress and the SAD-BSP combine, as well as the BJP.
(With PTI Inputs)