CHANDIGARH 5.17.14:
The 'lightweight' Aam Aadmi Party slugged it out like a champion in
Punjab, winning four seats and retreating only after pushing both the
Akalis and Congress into their corners.
The latter was hit
where it hurts most, as it drastically lost vote share to the AAP,
which secured an impressive 25% of total votes cast in Punjab, in its
Lok Sabha election debut. Dr Dharamvir Gandhi caused a huge upset in
defeating three-time Congress MP Preneet Kaur from Patiala.
Gandi
won by a little over 15,000 votes, and is one of the candidates
predicted to overthrow a biggie by ET. As senior AAP leader Rajeev
Godara said, "Other than the antiincumbency and correct choice
of candidates, it is the rebel in Punjabis which helped AAP do so
well here."
Comedian-turned-politician
Bhagwant Mann had the last laugh with a record margin of over two
lakh votes in Sangrur against SAD's tallest leader and MP, Sukhdev
Singh Dhindsa. Thanking the people of Punjab, Mann took a dig at the
ruling government on Friday. He said the Punjab chief minister used
to dismiss him as a comedian. "Now, it is the deputy chief
minister (Sukhbir Singh Badal) who is left to crack jokes," he
quipped.
In Faridkot, Professor Sadhu Singh of AAP defeated
SAD's Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, another sitting MP, by over 1.7 lakh
votes. Fatehgarh Sahib was also one of the surprises, where AAP's
Harinder Singh Khalsa, former Ambassador to Norway, defeated Congress
veteran Sadhu Singh by over 54,000 votes.
But perhaps the more pertinent front on which the aam aadmis made their presence felt is in snatching away Congress votes. Senior Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka finished second to Congress' Ravneet Singh Bittu by a narrow margin of 18,000 votes.
In Anandpur Sahib, SAD's Prem Singh Chandumajra — who had lost three elections in a row, two Assembly polls in 2007 and 2012 and Lok Sabha polls in 2009—won thanks to a three lakh-plus votes cast to AAP's Himmat Singh Shergill. This largely resulted in defeat of Congress' Ambika Soni.