Two-time SAD MLA ended third in Sahnewal Assembly elections

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhaina, March 14

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) storm that clean swept Ludhiana district by winning a record 13 of the total 14 Assembly seats in the February 20 high-stakes Punjab Vidhan Sabha polls also demolished the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) citadel Sahnewal, which was represented by the SAD ever since its inception in 2012.

The AAP’s new face, Hardeep Singh Mundian, 46, scripted history by winning the rural seat by a margin of 15,193 votes while the two-time sitting SAD MLA and former minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon ended third in a triangular contest.

Except the SAD and the Congress nominees, all other 16 candidates in the poll fray lost their security deposits as they failed to garner even 16.67 per cent of the total polled votes.

A matriculate businessman Mundian, who switched over to the AAP few months back after his stints in the Congress and the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), and also contested as an Independent candidate in the past, polled 61,515 votes, which accounted for 34.33 per cent of the total 1,79,196 votes polled.

He defeated the Congress nominee, Vikram Singh Bajwa, 51, son-in-law of former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who got 46,322 votes, constituting 25.85 per cent of the total votes polled.

Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, 68, who was the SAD legislature party leader, in the now dissolved Punjab Vidhan Sabha, secured 41,772 votes, accounting for 23.31 per cent of the total polled votes. The SAD’s vote share also dipped to record low after 38.07 per cent in 2017 and 53.44 per cent in 2012.

Also, the Congress vote share hit the record low from 35.33 per cent in 2017 and 37.6 per cent in 2012.

While the AAP had fielded Mundian in place of Harjot Singh Bains, who was the party candidate in 2017 and had finished third by polling 39,750, accounting for 23.84 per cent vote share, the Congress had also brought back Bajwa, who had lost to the SAD’s Dhillon in 2012 by polling 50,367 votes, constituting 37.6 per cent vote share, in place of popular Punjabi singer Satwinder Kaur Bitti, who was the Congress nominee in 2017 and had ended runner-up by getting 58,633 votes, accounting for 35.33 per cent vote share.

Among other candidates, who all lost their security deposits in Sahnewal this time, included Malwinder Singh Guron of the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), Amritpal Singh Chhandran of the SAD (Amritsar), Inder Dev Pandey of the Insaniyat Lok Vikas Party (ILVP), Harpreet Singh Garcha of the SAD (Sanyukt), Gurcharan Singh Rajput of the Janata Dal (United), Gurdeep Singh Kahlon of the Nationalist Justice Party (NJP), Gurmit Singh Mundian of the LIP, Dalbir Singh of the Peoples Party of India (Democratic), Deepak Dhir of the Samajwadi Party, Lakhwinder Singh of the Aam Lok Party United (ALPU), and Surinder Pal Kaur, Harjit Singh, Budh Singh, Bhola Singh, Major Singh and Mohan Singh, all Independents.

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