Ignored by Punjab Govt, flood-hit Doaba voted against AAP
Aparna Banerji
Jalandhar, June 9
The people of the flood-hit areas of Doaba have voted overwhelmingly against the AAP in the Lok Sabha election. While the Shahkot Assembly constituency of Jalandhar and the Sultanpur Lodhi Assembly constituency (falling in Kapurthala district) under Lok Sabha constituency Khadoor Sahib are the key areas in Doaba which were hit by massive floods in 2019 and 2023, they have delivered a firm mandate against AAP.
Incidentally, the very same areas also witness the very robust presence of farm bodies in Doaba. While ‘jathas’ of farmers from Shahkot and Lohian as well as Sultanpur Lodhi headed off to participate in the farmers protests in 2020-2021, Shahkot region also led in mobilising protests at Shambhu this year.
Independent mla helped more than govt
Farmers of the area have been patiently bearing the ravages of the floods year after year. A farmer’s dividend of 60,000 to 70,000 on a paddy field is reduced to nil. During floods, Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap helped people more than the government did. — Tarsem Singh, Farm leader
This year, Shahkot (Jalandhar) voted for INC’s Charanjit Singh Channi and Sultanpur Lodhi (Khadoor Sahib) for Independent, pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh.
At Shahkot, Congress received 47,009 votes, AAP received 28,116 votes and the BJP got 11,389 votes. Congress stood ahead of the AAP by 18,893 votes and from the BJP by 35,620 votes.
Meanwhile, at Sultanpur Lodhi, Independent Amritpal Singh received 32,875 votes, Congress’ Kulbir Singh Zira received 23,445 votes and AAP’s Laljit Singh Bhullar got 18,443 votes.
Amritpal was ahead of AAP by 14,432 votes and from Congress by 9,430 votes.
In the 2023 bypoll, the Aam Admi Party had won all rural areas in Jalandhar, including Shahkot which it scraped past with a thin margin.
However, in the wake of the August 2023 floods, (the areas have been hit by successive floods in 2008, 2019, 2023), as people largely thought they were left in a lurch, the votes shifted elsewhere. In Shahkot, the advantage went to Congress and in Sultanpur Lodhi, to Amritpal.
Sultanpur Lodhi-based farm leader Tarsem Singh said, “Those who are the most marginalised and tormented are most likely to raise voice. Farmers of the area have been patiently bearing the ravages of the floods year after year, incurring huge debts, losing loved ones. A farmer’s dividend of 60,000 to 70,000 on a paddy field is reduced to nil. On top of it, most didn’t receive ‘kharaba’ (compensation) from government. Even if they received something, it was between 5,000 to 8,000 only. During floods, Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap helped people more than the government did. Sultanpur Lodhi also being a predominantly Panthic seat, when MLA Rana Inder Partap (son of Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh) didn’t get the seat (Khadoor Sahib), people voted for Amritpal.”
