Cong heavyweight Dawar shows his might

Congress heavyweight Surinder Dawar proved his mettle yet again by registering a win from the Ludhiana-Central Constituency. 

He defeated BJP rival Gurdev Sharma Debi by a margin of 20,480 votes to retain his seat.

Dawar polled 47,871 votes in his favour, while Gurdev Sharma Debi of the BJP came second and polled 27,391 votes. As many as 1,064 voters, however, chose NOTA and rejected all candidates in the fray. 

From the beginning, Dawar maintained a healthy lead over his rivals and was among the first leader of the state to be declared the winner. Anti-incumbency, note ban and triangular contest played a pivotal role in his victory.

Fate also favoured Dawar as the elections were announced when people were reeling from demonetisation effect. Not only this, former health minister Satpal Gosain distanced himself from the election proceedings after the BJP denied him a ticket. Former BJP leader Vipan Sood Kaka also parted ways from the BJP and fought on the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) ticket (LIP). With 25,001 votes, Kaka managed to restore his reputation. Fighting on LIP symbol "letter box" instead of AAP's symbol "broom" also dented the vote percentage, feels Kaka. Former AAP leader Ashok Prashar Pappi, who left the party after it did not field its candidate due to alliance with LIP, also came out openly in favour of Dawar.  On the other hand, Dawar did not face dissidence from any quarters and kept consolidating his vote bank. — Mohit Khanna 

Top three candidates

• 1st: Surinder Dawar - (Congress) Votes polled: 47,871 
• 2nd: Gurdev Sharma Debi (BJP) - Votes polled: 27,391
• 3rd: Vipan Sood Kaka (53) - (Lok Insaf Party) Votes polled: 25,001