In SAS Nagar, Balbir Sidhu and Congress win finally coincide Dera Bassi repeats NK Sharma by a low margin Firsttime contestant Sandhu scores narrow victory for AAP
A hat-trick for the Congress in SAS Nagar constituency; NK Sharma of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) retaining his seat and the Aam Aadmi Party making its debut in Kharar meant the district’s spoils were shared, one seat each, between the three main political parties in the district.
Two sitting MLAs in the district have won another term. Balbir Singh Sidhu’s hat-trick of assembly victories from SAS Nagar coming with a thumping margin of 27,873 over his nearest rival Narinder Singh Shergill of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In Dera Bassi, it was a far closer contest with NK Sharma winning the second term with a margin of 1,921 votes, though he has to make a move from the treasury to the Opposition benches.
In Kharar, veteran journalist Kanwar Sandhu defeated his nearest rival Congress’ Jagmohan Singh Kang by 2,012 votes.
HUGE VICTORY IN SAS NAGAR
The victory in SAS Nagar has broken the jinx associated with the Congress that, ‘Whenever Sidhu wins, the party loses,’ as he had won the past two elections, but the Congress has lost.
Sidhu, a college dropout, has won by the largest margin in this hat-trick victory as in 2007 and 2012, he had won by over 16,000 and over 13,000 votes, respectively.
“It is not just my victory, it is the victory of their trust in me,” said Sidhu. He lists his accessibility as reason for his victory.
DEVELOPMENT CARD, ZIRAKPUR DECISIVE IN DERA BASSI
SAD candidate, realtor NK Sharma, has retained his seat with a drastically reduced margin, but claims that the development he brought about, especially in constructing roads, ensured that he won again.
In 2012, he had defeated Deepinder Dhillon by 12,028 votes. Dera Bassi was carved as a constituency in 2012.
Till 2007, it was under Banur and a stronghold of SAD leader Captain Kanwaljit Singh.
In the constituency, Zirakpur, the stronghold for Sharma, proved decisive with villages extending support to Congress’ Dhillon.
EARLY CANDIDATURE HELPED FIRST-TIMER FROM KHARAR
In Kharar, Kanwar Sandhu was declared as candidate by AAP as early as October 2016, giving him enough time to campaign.
The first-time contestant used the time to hold regular meetings. He had designed a special campaign that focused on local needs.
His position in the AAP as a member of the manifesto committee of the party also worked in his favour.
The fact that the constituency still lacks basic amenities also meant that people would have voted for change.
