In politics you cannot write off anyone. Simranjit Singh Mann is a perfect example of this. Twenty three years (1999) after winning his last major election from Sangrur, he almost sunk into oblivion. His worst came in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where he had to go through the notoriety of losing his bail money.
But having faith in yourself and perseverance paid off. This time he shaved a lion (Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann) in the same den (Sangrur) and emerged victorious, much to the displeasure of the Chief Minister. Aam Aadmi Party, This victory is nothing but the return of all comebacks.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate created history by defeating his nearest rival (AAP candidate) from Simranjit in Sangrur bypoll on Sunday.
Sangrur was said to be the stronghold of AAP, from where Bhagwant Mann had emerged victorious in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. In the Punjab Assembly elections held earlier this year also, AAP had won all the seats from Sangrur.
On Sunday, when the counting of votes ended, the Sangrur parliamentary constituency had rejected AAP candidate Gurmel Singh over SAD (Amritsar) president and its party candidate Simranjit Singh Mann, just four months after giving AAP a massive mandate in the state assembly elections.
While 77-year-old Simranjit Singh Mann – a pro-Khalistan leader – is on top of the world today with this spectacular electoral return, Congress candidate Dalveer Singh Goldie, BJP Candidate Kewal Dhillon, SAD-BSP candidate Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana and 11 other candidates lost their security deposit.
The bypoll to the seat was held in the wake of AAP Punjab president Bhagwant Mann’s resignation from the Lok Sabha after he was elected MLA from Dhuri assembly constituency in the state assembly elections earlier this year. Bhagwant Mann was later sworn in as the CM of Punjab.
Bhagwant Mann won his first election as Sangrur MP in 2014 by a huge margin of around 2.10 lakh votes and in 2019 he won it by 1.1 lakh votes.
The AAP thus lost its stronghold just four months after it won the Punjab Assembly elections, in which it bagged a total of 92 seats.
The Sangrur parliamentary seat has nine assembly seats and in February 2022, AAP had won all the nine seats with a huge margin. However, it could not sustain these gains as the party fell behind in Malerkotla, Dirba, Barnala and Bhaduar constituencies. This time SAD (Amritsar) had the upper hand.
The Sangrur by-election was held on June 23, in which there was a low turnout. Only 45.3% people voted which was the lowest since the 1991 general elections.
Low turnout was a direct message to AAP that people are angry with the party. They preferred to stay indoors rather than step out to vote.
Soon after winning the by-election, several online posts went viral on social media. One of the posts, “Maan (Simranjit Singh Mann) demolishes Maan’s (Bhagwant Mann) fort in Sangrur” has gone viral.
Simranjit Singh Mann said, “It is a big victory for the party. We have defeated all the national parties in this by-election. I am aware of the problems of workers, the poor economic condition of Sangrur and hence, I will raise all these issues. I will work with the Punjab government for the betterment of the residents of Sangrur.
Simranjit Mann said, “Looking at the public reaction, I was sure that I will win this seat. Our workers have worked very hard. I am thankful to the voters for electing me to the Parliament. I am the farmers of my constituency, Will work hard to solve the issues of farm labourers, traders and everyone.”
“People have voted for the Panthik party. In the end, he has chosen the sword over the broomstick.”
Significantly, this was Simranjit Mann’s seventh Lok Sabha election from Sangrur.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was slipped to the fourth position with a total of 48,365 votes, which was only 4.37% of the total votes, while in the 2022 assembly elections, his party’s candidates got around 81,000 votes from all the nine assemblies. Constituencies of Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
However, in the by-election, Simranjit Mann got a surprisingly huge jump as he got 2,53,154 out of the total votes (7,10,825), which was 35.61% of the total votes and 31.24% more than what he got. In the 2019 parliamentary election.
AAP’s Gurmail Singh got 2,47,332 votes which was 34.79% of the total votes and AAP was 2.61% less than its vote share as compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress’s Dalveer Singh Goldie slipped to the third position with 79,688 votes, while BJP’s Kewal Dhillon slipped to the fourth position with 66,298 votes. SAD (Badal) candidate Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana came fifth with 44,428 votes.
SAD (Amritsar) national general secretary Karnail Singh said, “Now Punjab has given the answer of ‘Who is the real Panthik Party’. Badal claimed himself to be a Panthik party, but his candidate’s deposit was forfeited in the by-election.
Harminder Singh, a Sikh preacher and supporter of Simranjit Mann, said, “It is said that people hate BJP because they brought agriculture law, but the bypoll results show that Badal’s party got less votes than the BJP.”
Simranjit Mann had said in his campaign, “The late actor-activist Deep Sidhu had asked us whether we wanted a sword or a broom. That’s why finally people have paid tribute to Deep Sidhu by choosing a sword.”
Deep Sidhu was accused of violence at the Red Fort during the farmers’ protest. He was an activist, a follower of the ideology of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and a supporter of SAD (Amritsar).
singer Sidhu MusewalaMurder also played an important role in this victory. Simranjit Mann had clearly mentioned in his promotional posters that Moosewala was in his corner. Singer had said that he would do everything to make Simranjit Maan win.
After winning the by-election, the supporters of Simranjit Mann, especially the youth, raised slogans of Sidhu Musewala Amar Rahe.
According to the SAD (Amritsar) president, a day before his assassination, Musewala called him (Simranjit Mann) and said that he would meet him soon.
SAD (A) leader Jaswant Singh Cheema said, “Now our next target is to remove Badal from the gurdwaras.”