Charanjit Singh Channi, the Chief Minister of Punjab, has lost both his seats to AAP candidates in the assembly elections. In Bhadaur seat, Channi has lost to Labh Singh Ugoke by a margin of over 34,000 votes. In Chamkaur Sahib, Channi has lost to AAP candidate Charanjit Singh by a margin of over 5,500 votes.
In a major embarrassment for two-time Punjab Chief Minister and Congress rebel Capt Amarinder Singh in a fag-end of his political career, he faced a humiliating defeat from AAP’s greenhorn Ajit Pal Kohli with over 13,000 votes on Thursday from his stronghold Patiala (Urban), the seat that he has won for four consecutive terms since 2002 when he first contested.
He is seen as a nationalist and widely respected leader of the BJP-led alliance.
The former’s fledgling Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) was contesting the polls in alliance with the BJP and SAD (Sanyukt), an Akali Dal rebel.
In the Congress-ruled state, Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP is heading for a landslide win, with the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP far behind.
Capt Amarinder Singh left the Congress just ahead of the polls after the Congress unceremoniously removed him from the helm and he floated his own party.
A day ahead of the counting of votes, Capt Amarinder Singh exuded full confidence, saying he expected positive verdict by the people of Punjab in favour of his party Punjab Lok Congress and the alliance partners, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal-Samyukt.
In his statement, Capt Amarinder Singh had said, “the counting of votes marks the conclusion of the electoral festival of democracy and we are confident of outstanding results”.
Capt Amarinder Singh said people of Punjab had understood the importance of a “double-engine” government in Punjab which will watch and safeguard the national interest and help in reviving Punjab’s economy. “Promising days are ahead for Punjab”, he had remarked.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal loses election to Aam Aadmi Party’s Jagdeep Kamboj by a margin of nearly 16,000 votes in his seat of Jalalabad.
