Beant Singh's grandson Gurkirat Kotli loses deposit in Khanna

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, March 11

In a worst-ever performance not only by him but also by the Congress, Industries Minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli even lost his security deposit from the Khanna Assembly constituency in the Punjab Assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Thursday.

Kotli, grandson of slain Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, was the lone politician who had won two consecutive elections in 2017 and 2012 from Khanna, ever since the general segment had conducted its maiden election in 1962.

Inducted as the Cabinet Minister in the outgoing Charanjit Singh Channi-led government ahead of the 2022 polls, Kotli (48), cousin of Ludhiana Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, was on a hat-trick but lost to the first-timer Tarunpreet Singh Sond (38) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Kotli suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Sond, a leading businessman of the area, by a whopping margin of 42,120 votes. Kotli polled only 20,305 votes, which accounted for 15.79 per cent of 1,28,586 total votes polled to finish third. This was even over 5 per cent less than 26,805 votes, constituting 20.85 per cent vote share, secured by another first-timer Jasdeep Kaur Yadu of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Sond got 62,425 votes, accounting for 48.55 per cent of the total polled votes.

Kotli had polled 44.29 per cent votes in 2017 and 38.36 per cent votes in 2012 to win the Khanna seat twice consecutively.

Kotli had replaced the Congress stalwart and former state party president Shamsher Singh Dullo, who is presently the Rajya Sabha MP, as Congress candidate from Khanna in 2012.

Khanna, which had remained the Congress citadel, had elected the party MLA for a maximum of seven times so far.

When it comes to the vote share in Khanna, the Congress had polled 46.07 per cent votes in 2007 when Dullo had lost to the SAD candidate Bikramjit Singh, 48.44 per cent in 2002 when the Congress nominee and Dullo’s wife Harbans Kaur had won from the SAD’s Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, 37.27 per cent in 1997 when Dullo had lost to the SAD’s Bachan Singh, 73.2 per cent in 1992 when Dullo had defeated the BJP’s Mohinder Pal, 42.13 per cent in 1985 when Dullo had again lost to the SAD’s Sukhdev Singh, 51.57 per cent in 1980 when Dullo was elected by defeating the CPI’s Amar Singh, 48.06 per cent in 1977 when Dullo had lost to the SAD’s Bachan Singh, 50.2 per cent in 1972 when Congress candidate Prithvi Singh Azad had won by defeating the SAD’s Bachan Singh, 49.84 per cent in 1969 when the Congress nominee Dhamma Singh was defeated by the SAD’s Naurang Singh, 28.81 per cent in 1967 when Congress candidate B Singh was defeated by the RPI’s G Singh, and 42.66 per cent in 1962 when Congress nominee Jagir Singh had won Khanna’s maiden election by defeating the Akali Dal’s Naurang Singh.