Chabbewal: AAP debutant Ishank trounces BJP, Cong turncoats

Ultimately, it was a cakewalk for the debutant Ishank Kumar, son of sitting MP Raj Kumar, as he sealed an emphatic win in Chabbewal trouncing four-time MLA and former minister Sohan Singh Thandal and Congress’s Ranjit Kumar.

Ishank Kumar, a doctor, polled 51,904 votes and Ranjit Kumar secured 23,214 votes. The BJP’s Sohan Singh Thandal was a distant third with 8,692 votes, Election Commission data showed.

It was the second consecutive win for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency and the fourth victory for MP Raj Kumar’s clan in Chabbewal. Having himself won the LS election in June this year after switching to AAP, the MP pushed for his son’s candidacy and succeeded in getting him the ticket.

Raj Kumar has admitted that the party leadership was in a quandary over the allotment of the ticket to his son. But the decision paid off as Ishank won the seat by a margin of 28690 votes, higher than what Raj Kumar had got (a margin of nearly 27,000 votes) in the LS elections from Chabbewal. Despite a low turnout (53.43%), Ishank bagged around 61% of the total votes polled.

Opposition had levelled allegations of dynastic politics against AAP and tried to make it an election issue but it did not resonate with the electorate. In fact, the party’s victory can be attributed to Raj Kumar’s sway in the constituency ever since he entered the political arena in 2012. Ishank’s campaign had centred predominantly on his father’s legacy. His mild manners and humility also won him support.

Opposition’s hopes to garner the support of Akali Dal and BSP cadre also didn’t pay off. The Akalis decided to opt out of the bypoll contest and the results indicate that their supporters galvanised towards AAP rather than BJP or Congress.

The other factor that helped Ishank secure a massive mandate seems to be the delay by the Congress and BJP in naming the candidates.

While AAP remained active after the LS election, Congress and BJP oiled their machinery at the eleventh hour. Ranjit Kumar and Sohan Singh Thandal were the last-minute choices of Congress and BJP, respectively.

Ranjit Kumar had contested the last LS election on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and was handpicked by local Congress leadership for the bypoll. Experts feel that if the election had been held one week earlier as per the initial itinerary, Congress’ performance would have been worse as it would not have had any time for campaigning.

Thandal left the SAD to contest the election on the BJP ticket but failed miserably. It was his seventh assembly election from the constituency of which he won four, besides having contested the previous Lok Sabha poll from Hoshiarpur. Incidentally, Thandal has lost the last three elections to Raj Kumar and the byelection to his son.

In 2017 Raj Kumar won the Chabbewal seat on Congress ticket by a margin of 29, 261 votes. In the following election, his victory margin was reduced to 7,646 mainly because 34.40% of votes went to AAP. In LS elections, he gained a lead of over 27,000 votes in Chabbewal.

Ishank Kumar had predicted a higher lead this time around and it came true. He attributed his victory to the ‘hard work’ done by his father as an MLA and an MP and the party’s support.

“People have given a verdict in favour of AAP’s policies. My father worked hard for my success. With the help of my voters and supporters, I could win the election”, he said adding that now his priority would be to expedite development projects.