Chandigarh: In the whirlwind of change that the assembly poll results brought in Punjab, some major political parties that were audaciously confident about their win at some point, have failed to retain their security deposit. Dozens of leaders who were considered stalwarts in Punjab's political fray have faced a defeat amid the sudden change in direction of wave in the state, consequently exposing their further political careers to an irreversible threat.
In terms of political parties, the security deposit of 54 candidates of BJP, 27 of Akali Dal, and 30 of Congress have been forfeited, posing an embarrassing defeat for these parties. Except for Parminder Singh Dhindsa of Shiromani Akali Dal Sanyukt, most of the popular faces were forfeited. The Bahujan Samaj Party had contested 20 seats, out of which 12 were easily forfeited.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
Among the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) stalwarts who failed to secure their positions in the state political fray is former President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Gobind Singh Longowal from Lehra Gaga, Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal from Ludhiana (West), RD Sharma from Ludhiana East, and Prakash Chand Garg from Dhuri, Atmanagar. Additionally, some others including Harish Rai Dhanda from Amritsar East, Dalbir Singh from Amritsar East, Jagdeep Singh Cheema from Fatehgarh Sahib, Hans Raj Joshan from Fazilka, Nusrat Khan from Malerkotla, Raj Kumar Gupta from Sujanpur, and Baldev Singh Mann from Sunam also, unfortunately, placed themselves in the list of leaders who witnessed defeat.
Indian National Congress (INC)
With what is being deemed an embarrassing defeat for Congress nationwide, the INC leaders in Punjab also suffered an indelible loss to their political career in the state. Mainly Mohan Singh Falianwala from Jalalabad, Jagpal Singh from Lambi, Karan Kaur Brar - the daughter-in-law of late former CM Harcharan Singh Brar - from Muktsar, Ajeeb Singh Rataul from Dirbha, Satveer Singh Pali Jhiki from Nawanshahr, and Vishnu Sharma from Patiala also faced forfeit.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The Bharatiya Janata Party, despite securing an impressive win nationwide, also suffered a major embarrassment in the polls by forming an alliance with the Punjab Lok Congress. A total of 54 bigwigs out of the party's 76 candidates could not save their deposits. Amloh's Kanwarveer Singh Tohra, who is the grandson of late Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, also suffered a loss of security deposit. Besides, Jagmohan Raju from Amritsar (East), Raj Nambardar from Bathinda (Urban) constituency, Sucha Ram Ladhar from Gill constituency, Dr. Harjot Kamal, and Iqbal Singh Lalpura from Halqa Ropar constituency are the other BJP leaders who faced defeat along with loss of security.
Badal Family
A statistical look at the Badal family in terms of votes over the last two elections shows that out of all the family members in the political fray, Sukhbir Singh Badal has been getting the highest number of votes. Although he has lost the election this time, he has managed to keep the exponentiality in his graph of votes among his family members constant. He managed to secure 60,525 votes this time in Jalalabad, whereas in 2017, he had secured 75,271 votes defeating the AAP candidate Bhagwant Mann.
On the other hand, Parkash Singh Badal secured 54,917 votes this time against 66,375 in 2017. Badal family's son-in-law, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from Patti has lost this time too. He got 4,6324 votes this time against Laljit Singh Bhullar of the Aam Aadmi Party, whereas last time, Kairon had secured 56,254 votes and Congress' Harminder Gill had bagged the win.
