Malvinder Singh Kang trails on home turf despite AAP presence

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, June 4

It may be a sweet victory for AAP candidate Malvinder Singh Kang in the Anandpur Lok Sabha seat, but one thing must be rankling Kang that how did he concede lead to his nearest rival Vijay Inder Singla (Cong) on his homeground in Mohali, Kharar and Chamkaur Sahib Assembly segments.

Cabinet Minister Anmol Gagan Maan from Kharar, MLAs from Mohali Kulwant Singh and Charanjit Singh from Chamkaur Sahib failed to ensure lead from their own Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha polls.

Kang trailed Singla by 1,103 votes in Mohali, 5,639 votes in Kharar and 17,028 in Chamkaur Sahib. However, the 45-year-old debutant’s sizeable leads in Garhshankar, Nawanshahr, Anandpur Sahib and Rupnagar Assembly segments helped him post a victory margin of 10,846 over Congress veteran Vijay Inder Singla.

Kang has been the party in-charge of Anandpur Sahib area for the past two years. Local residents said in the last two years he has been at the forefront of closure of eight toll plazas in the area.

“Jit gaya, bhai jit gaya, jhaadu vala jit gaya (The one with the broom symbol has won),” Kang supporters said this after he came out with a certificate in his hands. In Ropar also, his supporters raised slogans in favour of local MLA Dinesh Kumar Chadha. Education minister Harjot Bains announced Kang’s victory amid loud cheers in Ropar.

The turnout in Kharar and Mohali being the least among the nine Assembly seats of the parliamentary constituency may have worked in favour of the AAP candidate.

Office-bearers at AAP’s Sector 89 election office said, “Each constituency has its own character and this time local issues made a lot of difference. Over the next few days, the party will sit and analyse the pros and cons of the campaign.”

In Kharar, a total of 1,59,386 votes were polled with a turnout percentage of 56.80. In SAS Nagar Assembly segment, 1,40,267 voters registered a 60.16 percent turnout.

Cong won twice, SAD once

Carved in 2008, the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat is unique for the reason that it falls in Malwa and Doaba region also. Religious tourism, Panthic politics and mining in river beds dominates the issues in Lok Sabha polls here. Two times the Congress has won this seat — Ravneet Singh Bittu (2009) and Manish Tewari (2019), while SAD’s Prem Singh Chandumajra won it in 2014.