Punjab: Hindu urban votes consolidate in AAP’s favour

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, March 10

The consolidation of the Hindu urban strongholds of Doaba, from where the BJP had claimed that it would win, helped the AAP emerge victorious from the region.

The AAP has won four seats in Jalandhar, five in Hoshiarpur and one in Nawanshahr. Of the four Doaba districts, Kapurthala is the only one from where the AAP failed to open its account.

The 10 seats that AAP won included Kartarpur, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar Central, and Nakodar in Jalandhar district. In Hoshiarpur, it registered a sweeping win across five of the seven constituencies — Garhshankar, Dasuya, Sham Chaurasi and Urmur. Of the three constituencies in Nawanshahr district, AAP won only one segment — Balachaur.

In many of the Doaba seats, little known and greenhorn candidates of the party emerged victorious against veterans from other parties. The AAP also managed to capture the heart of the Jalandhar urban bastion, winning two of the four seats — Jalandhar West and Central.

The party had faced criticism for fielding candidates with questionable antecedents from the two seats.

In the traditional BJP stronghold of Jalandhar Central, which has alternated between BJP and Congress’ veterans Manoranjan Kalia and Rajinder Beri, AAP’s pick Raman Arora won by a mere 247 votes.