Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an upstart party in power in the national capital, has wrested the state of Punjab from Congress, and how! The party has won 89 seats at the time of writing and is leading in three others. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was defeated in both the seats he contested. In Bhadaur, AAP’s Labh Singh Ugoke bagged 51.07 percent of the votes while Channi managed only 21.09 percent.
Channi lost in Chamkaur Sahib, his home turf, to his AAP rival and namesake, Dr Charanjit Singh. The competition here was closer. Channi had represented the constituency since 2007. This time, however, he managed 42.22 percent of the vote share while AAP’s Dr Singh won the seat with 47.6 percent of the votes.
Dr Singh is an ophthalmologist and the state vice-president of the Doctors' Wing. He is an alumnus of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, a public medical university in Chandigarh. Dr Singh fought Channi in 2017 too, but lost by 12,308 votes, reported the Hindustan Times. Dr Singh had received 34 percent of the total vote while Channi had received 42 percent of the vote in the 2017 state assembly elections.
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Dr Singh has been consistent in his attacks on the Punjab CM. He attacked Channi over his alleged link in the illegal mining operations in the state. He famously said, “I am the real ‘aam aadmi’. CM Channi is living a lavish life. I have served the community and remained in the area even after losing the election. I never indulged in any wrongdoing such as illegal sand mining, etc.”
Dr Singh had promised to improve the deplorable job situation in the state and eradicate organised crime as part of the AAP government.
Political observers have theorised that fielding Dr Singh from the same constituency as Channi is a political masterstroke as the AAP tried to capitalise on their shared first name, reported the Pioneer.
Before the election, many AAP supporters believed that Dr Singh had what it took to dethrone Channi, which they say was evident from the fact that the Chief Minister contested from two seats.
“He will be a giant killer. Although it is difficult to defeat a CM candidate but why do you think Channi had to contest from Bhadaur also?” Bhag Singh, an AAP supporter, had said prophetically to the Indian Express ahead of the elections.
The eye surgeon has proved them right.
Channi became the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab after Captain Amarinder Singh quit the Congress government over a feud with Navjot Singh Sidhu, who too tasted defeat on Thursday.
Channi and Sidhu also vied for the top post before the Congress leadership chose Channi to represent the party in the state. But AAP’s campaign and the support it got proved too much for the grand-old party. Congress state chief Sidhu lost his seat to AAP’s Jeevan Jyot Kaur while Captain Singh, who left to form the Punjab Lok Congress and formed an alliance with the BJP, lost his seat to AAP’s Ajitpal Singh Kohli.
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