The control of the Punjab state assembly has changed hands as AAP has wrested authority from Congress. While AAP has already won 59 seats and is leading on 33 seats, according to the latest Election Commission data, a handful of big leaders across the political spectrum have fallen rather spectacularly in Punjab. Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Badals have all lost the contest.
The fall of big leaders in Punjab suggests that voters have snubbed the leaders who were entangled in ego fights for the top party positions and did not pay any heed to the concerns of the public.
Channi loses both seats, Sidhu tastes the dirt
CM Channi lost by 5,000 votes on the Chamkaur Sahib seat to AAP’s candidate who is also incidentally named Charanjit Singh. On the second seat of Bahadur, CM Channi lost by a whopping margin of 27,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Sidhu lost to AAP candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur by a margin of 6,700 on the Amritsar East seat. Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia fared even worse, losing by over 11,000 votes.
Accepting the defeat, Sidhu tweeted, “The voice of the people is the voice of God …. Humbly accept the mandate of the people of Punjab …. Congratulations to Aap!!!”
The voice of the people is the voice of God …. Humbly accept the mandate of the people of Punjab …. Congratulations to Aap !!!
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) March 10, 2022
CM Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, and the entirety of Congress was fighting amongst themselves which led to no coordination. The voters sensed that the top brass leaders were not in authority. As a result, they preferred to snuff out their chances of creating any more mess.
Amarinder Singh and Prakash Singh Badal go down
As for Captain Amarinder Singh, the by-product of infighting in Congress — he lost his home turf of Patiala to AAPs Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. It is being suggested that Captain joining hands with BJP did not go down well with his loyal voters and they looked in the other direction.
Meanwhile, five-time CM Prakash Singh Badal lost his Lambi seat to AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Khudian by a margin of 11k votes.
AAP emulated its Delhi playbook of freebies in Punjab and reaped the rewards. It further strengthened its hold by actively feeling the pulse of Khalistan supporters. AAP’s national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal stood behind the Khalistanis and swept their votes while the biggies of the state went after each other.