Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 22
Akali Dal stalwart Bibi Jagir Kaur’s daughter Rajneet Kaur and Congress Khadoor Sahib MLA Ramanjit Sikki’s son-in-law Maninderjit Singh Mani (30) have registered wins in their respective zones.
Both greenhorns in politics, Rajneet Kaur has won from Nangal Lubana zila parishad zone and Maninderjit Singh Mani from Ramidi. Both zones are part of the Bholath Assembly constituency.
Mani defeated SAD’s Sukhjinder Singh Sukhi. Out of all the zones in Bholath and Kapurthala, Bibi’s daughter is the only SAD candidate to have won, while the remaining seats have been won by the Congress.
It is for the first time that Bibi had fielded her daughter in any election.
Earlier, her son-in-law Yuvraj Bhupinder Singh had lost the Bholath seat to AAP’s Sukhpal Khaira in the 2017 Assembly polls.
Bibi alleged: “It took a lot of effort to win the election. The Congress tried its best to pull us down. Many Akalis were harassed and in turn implicated in false cases. But the people supported us.”
Sikki, however, claimed: “No false case was registered against anyone. Even in the filing of nominations, papers of not a single candidate were rejected. We even helped an Akali candidate whose papers were not complete in getting the relevant certificate.”
Mani said: "There hasn't been much development in the Ramdi zone, as many projects were routed to Begowal. We want to open a college for girls and a hospital in the area."
The Aam Aadmi Party had stayed away from the polls in as was announced by its MLA Sukhpal Khaira.