When AAP’s Jeevan Jyot defeated political bigwigs

GS Paul

Amritsar, March 10

In what could be named as the ‘mother of all battles’ in the Assembly polls, the Amritsar’s East constituency also witnessed surprise results.

Though the main ‘neck and neck’ contest was being predicted between PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu and SAD’s Bikram Singh Majithia, the residents of the constituency gave their verdict in favour of AAP’s candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur.

Terming Sidhu and Majithia as “political elephants”, she said that when they were busy fighting and abusing each other from political stages, she was more focussed on the public issues.

Jeevan Jyot Kaur, a social worker and AAP’s district president, defeated Sidhu by a margin of 6,613 votes. Interestingly, if it was the first win for Jeevan Jyot, it was also for the first time that Sidhu and Majithia had tasted defeat as they remained undefeated in their political career.

It is believed that Sidhu’s inaccessibility and his long absence from the constituency during his tenure went against him and Majithia could not win people’s faith especially in the wake of his facing drug case. He is at present in judicial custody.

Testing electoral waters for the first time, she polled 39,679 votes. His nearest opponent Sidhu got 32,929 votes and Majithia got 25,188 votes. Meanwhile, BJP candidate Dr Jagmohan Singh Raju, a former IAS officer, got only 7,286 votes. He had resigned as secretary to contest the election.

Jeevan Jyot is also popularly known as “pad woman” for running a programme under which woman inmates were provided sanitary napkins in jails across Punjab.

Despite the fact that Amritsar East was represented by celebrity Sidhu couple since its inception in 2012 with Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu occupying the position of lawmaker representing BJP then, followed by his husband, Navjot Singh Sidhu who won the seat in 2017, the residents cribbed for basic civic amenities.

Jeevanjot said when she visited the constituency, she wondered that even in various parts of the constituency, the residents were deprived of efficient sewerage system, road connectivity and even safe drinking water. “Also, the drug menace prevailed in some pockets of the area. In the absence of opportunities, the youth resort to drugs. I will try to bring change in their life. The issue of dump, drinking water, revamping vegetable market and sanitation of the constituency would be the priority issues,” she said.

On what she felt after facing big stalwarts like Sidhu and Majithia, she said when she used to move around in the constituency amidst the big cavalcade of both the leaders, she thought it to be a big challenge, but never lost hope. “When I used to meet the residents, they used to bless me and I too carried on my campaign. I believe that I could reach people’s heart and I will never let them down and work for their prosperity and healthy life,” she said.