Gurkirat Kotli wins triangular contest

Defeats AAP opponent by 20,951 votes

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 11

The sitting Congress MLA, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, and grandson of assassinated former Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, defeated other candidates, to win Khanna seat by securing 55,690 votes. He defeated the AAP rival, Anil Dutta Phally, by a margin of 20,591 votes.

Top-three candidates

• 1st: Gurkirat Singh Kotli - Congress, votes polled: 55,690 
• 2nd: Anil Dutt Phally - AAP, votes polled: 35,099
• 3rd: Ranjit S Talwandi  - SAD, votes polled: 31,845

The assurance of former Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, to make the SAD leader Ranjit Singh Talwandi a minister during a public rally did not make any effect on voters as Talwandi finished third. Kotli defeated Talwandi during the last assembly elections by 7, 278 votes.

It is largely due to the fact that during the SAD-BJP rule Khanna constituency was ignored completely and witnessed no development. The Khanna – Samrala road was under dilapidated condition. Chocked sewerage was a common site in Khanna town while villages were struggling for basic amenities like portable water.

Phally, who appeared to be cruising in the run-up of election, suffered a major jolt due to the decisions of senior leadership of the party.

Sources said that AAP convener’s decision of staying for a night at the house of former alleged terrorist in Moga, Gurinder Singh, caused a major shift in the vote bank of Phally.

The Maur Mandi blast barely three days before the election also dented Phally’s vote bank.

On the other hand Gurkirat thrived on the family ties and one to one contact with the residents of his constituency. The anti- incumbency also played a major role in shifting the pendulum in Gurkirat’s favour.