Independents have led to defeat of Congress, Akali nominees

Chandigarh, Feb 4: Independent candidates may have never played any role in the formation of governments in Punjab, but they have definitely led to the defeat of Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress candidates in assembly elections in the state.

The independents who have won in the past have by and large been rebels who have been denied official party nominations by either the Congress or the SAD. In the last assembly polls, nine independents emerged victorious, the largest number in the history of assembly elections in the state.

In the 2002 polls, 274 independents contested the elections for 117 assembly constituencies. Out of these nine won, while 250 others lost their security deposits. Independents garnered 11.27 per cent votes, which was more than the BJP or the Left parties.

In the 1997 polls, 244 independents entered the electoral fray, of which six were victorious, while 218 forfeited their security. In this election independents secured 5.15 per cent of the votes polled.

In the last assembly elections, independents won in Dhariwal, Sherpur, Dirba, Talwandi Sabo, Rampura Phul, Mansa, Muktsar, Taran Taran and Amritsar West. In about 12 assembly segments, independents were in the second position.

In the last polls there were no independents in the fray from Fategarh Churian, Qadian, Pathankot, Sujanpur and a few other segments.

In 2002, the largest number of independents in the electoral battle were in Muktsar and Bathinda-- nine each. In the Samana assembly segments, eight independents contested, while seven independents each contested from Ludhiana Rural and Abohar.

The narrowest victory margin in the last polls was from Dhariwal, where independent Sucha Singh Sekhwan secured 32,442 votes, defeatng his nearest rival Sucha Singh Langah of SAD by a margin of just 80 votes.

Mr Om Prakash Soni was the only independent to have emerged victorious in the consecutive elections from the Amritsar West segments. In 1997, Mr Soni a former Mayor of Amritsar, contested as an independent after being denied the Congress ticket and won by a handsome margin of over 10,000 votes. He repeated the feat in the last elections to enter the Vidhan Sabha for a second term and is again likely to enter, either on the Congress tickets or as a independent.

From the Sherpur (reserved) seat, SAD rebel Gobind Singh Kanjla won securing 30,132 votes, defeating the official SAD candidate by a margin of about 4000 votes. From the Dirba segment, Congress rebel Surjit Singh Dhiman secured 35,099 votes and defeated SAD nominee Baldev Singh Mann by a little less than 1000 votes. Mr Mann is again the SAD candidate from this seat.

In the Talwandi Sabo constituency, Cong rebel Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu defeated the party's official candidate Harmohinder Singh Jassi by a narrow margin. In the Rampura bhul segment, SAD rebel gurpreet Singh Khangar defeated SAD candidate Sikander Singh Maluka by about 3000 votes.

In the Mansa seat, Mr Sher Singh, Independent won by a margin of less than 200 votes. From Muktsar, Akali rebel Sukhdarshan Singh won defeating the Congress candidate Harcharan Singh by about 400 votes.

Mr Sukhdarshan Singh is the official SAD candidates in the current polls from Muktsar.

In Tarn Taran, another SAD rebel Harmeet Singh Sandhu defeated the party nominee Alwinderpal Singh Pakoke by a margin of over 6000 votes. Mr Sandhu is the official SAD candidate from this constituency in the current polls.

Among the independents who secured second positions in the last elections, was Raminder Singh Bolaria, a Congress rebel who lost by a narrow margin from the Amritsar South segment. Mr Bolaria is the SAD candidate from this constituency in the current elections.

From the Ajnala segment, Congress rebel Harpartap Singh lost by a narrow margin of less than 1000 votes to SAD's candidate Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala. Interestingly, Congress candidate Rajbir Singh Randhawa lost his security deposit from here, earning the rare distinction of gettng the least number of votes among all Congress nominees in the last polls.

Mr Harpartap Singh later won the by-election to the Ajnala segment as the Congress candidate. He is expected to be fielded from here again by the Congress.

From the Raja Sansi constituency, another Congress rebel Sukhwinder Singh lost by a margin of less than 4000 votes to SAD candidate Veer Singh Lopoke. An SAD rebel Mohinder Kaur Josh was in second position in the Sham Churasi segment, losing by about 2000 votes to Congress candidate Ram Lubayia. In the current polls, Mrs Josh is the SAD candidate.

The other constitutencies from where the independents were in second positions in the last elections are-- Malekotla, Jagraon, Abohar, Dharmkot, Lambi, Shri Hargobindpur, Kharar, Shatrana and Sangrur.

UNI