New Delhi: With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registering an impressive victory in Punjab, party’s Jeevan Jyot Kaur surprised all political pundits as she pulled off the biggest upset of the poll season.
The virtually unknown AAP worker toppled two heavyweights in Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) veteran Bikram Singh Majithia.
Kaur won the Amritsar East with 34,257 votes and with a margin of 8,129 votes.
Sidhu got 29,128 votes in the contest, while Majithia won 22,431 votes.
Talking to the media after her win, the AAP candidate said it is the “victory of the people of Punjab”.
Stating that her ticket from the Amritsar East seat was announced around December 3 last year, Kaur said that she got “positive indication” during door-to-door campaigns that Punjab has “overcome identity politics”.
50-year-old Kaur, who joined the AAP earlier in 2015, steadily rose in the party ranks.
She had earlier described AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s win against then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections as an inspiration for newcomers like her.
Kaur had earlier earned appreciation for her work with the Sri Hemkunt Education Society.
She had also been associated with the EcoShe Menstrual Health Programme, which oversaw distribution of eco-friendly sanitary napkins in prisons, schools, slum areas and rural places in Punjab.
This effort earned her the sobriquet of ‘pad woman’ of Amritsar for her efforts in spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene.
Meanwhile, Sidhu, who was challenged by Majithia in the Amritsar East constituency, accepted the verdict of the people.
“The voice of the people is the voice of God …. Humbly accept the mandate of the people of Punjab …. Congratulations to Aap !!!” the cricketer-turned politician tweeted.
Majithia is yet to react on his dismal show in the assembly elections.
Sidhu had won from the Amritsar East constituency by a margin of 42,661 votes in the 2017 assembly polls.
There are now reports suggesting that Sidhu may quit as the Punjab Congress chief and also tender his resignation from the grand old party.