Nepotism bit the dust: Gurdeep Randhawa
Gurdeep Singh Randhawa of AAP pipped at the post his nearest rival and Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur Randhawa to win the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat by a margin of 5,699 votes.
The ambitions of Kaur, a housewife, to become an MLA and hence follow in the footsteps of her husband and MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and father-in-law Santokh Singh Randhawa evaporated into thin air when Gurdeep took an unassailable lead in the last few rounds.
For the first eight rounds, it was an edge-of-the-seat thriller with the lead swinging like a pendulum from one end to the other. Finally, in the ninth round, AAP broke free and kept on steadily increasing its margin.
At the very outset, it became clear that the fight would be between the Congress and AAP. The BJP was pushed out of contention in the first round itself. The party nominee Ravi Karan Kahlon got a paltry 451 votes against 3,323 polled by Kaur and 2,518 by Gurdeep. The wide margin ensured the saffron party would have to watch the contest from the sidelines.
By the end of the 13th round, AAP had taken a lead of 2,877 votes, leaving Congress workers who had assembled outside the counting hall dejected. Initial celebrations were replaced with despondency and hopelessness. Hopelessness because the situation was getting bad with every passing round.
Gurdeep Randhawa, who was present in the hall, heaved a sigh of relief when his lead got extended to an almost unbeatable 4,000 votes.
As the penultimate round approached, Congressmen knew only divine intervention could save them from the ignominy of a loss. With defeat staring in their face, they started disbursing. In contrast, hundreds of AAP loyalists joyously lost themselves in the celebrations that followed.
Moments after the counting concluded, a jubilant Gurdeep Randhawa came out of the hall flashing the victory sign. “It is a victory of the masses against nepotism unleashed by the Randhawa family. My win has proved that all allegations levelled against me by the Congress candidate and her husband were unsubstantiated. The couple unabashedly accused me of harbouring gangsters. It is a resounding win for my party and the credit goes to Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann,” he said.
“I will work for the development of my area. Fighting drones and drugs is the number one item on my agenda. I will also bring some projects which will ensure my people get employment,” he added.
As expected, the BJP failed to make an impression in this predominantly Jat-Sikh seat.
