Aam Aadmi Party candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur emerged as the giant killer in the Punjab Assembly elections as she defeated two political heavyweights– Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Bikramjit Majithia from the Amritsar East seat. Speaking to ANI, Kaur said that Punjab has overcome identity politics.
Thanking the voters for giving AAP and the “tried and tested Delhi model” of Arvind Kejriwal a chance, she said, “It’s the victory of the people of Punjab. My ticket was announced around Dec 30 …Got positive indication during door-to-door campaigns that Punjab has overcome identity politics.” She further added that the party was confident of forming a government with a majority in Punjab “because the people here were already frustrated with other political parties.”
“These parties (Congress and SAD) have interchangeably ruled Punjab. The people of Punjab felt looted and the youth, since they saw no opportunities here, has been running abroad,” Jeevan Jyot Kaur said. Mocking parties over vendetta politics, she said that AAP is not here to do politics “but to change the politics” and therefore, talks about issues and not personal rivalries.
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“People have voted for a change. I believe that a leader becomes big through their work, but they (big leaders) have not even done the minutest of people’s work. When we would go for door-to-door campaigns, people would say that we don’t see the large elephants, we just see jhadu,” she said. When asked about the greatest challenge Kaur faced during campaigning, Kaur told that it was to come in front of the media.
“When I was campaigning and meeting people, they were very warm and welcoming and they would say that I shouldn’t worry about these elections as in their eyes, I had already won,” she said. Sharing her vision for the constituency, Jeevan Jyot Kaur said that several issues such as cleanliness, water availability and drugs are among the major and initial issues she’d like to deal with.
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“I consider this as an opportunity to work for the people, and as a social activist, I will help people in whatever way possible, especially the health and education sector,” she added while saying that it is good to be a part of good politics. Talking of women’s representation in politics, the newly elected MLA said, “This is a big win for the women. I have always said that women need equal representation in politics. While campaigning, I have felt that the ladies were relieved seeing a female candidate.”
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Jeevan Jyot Kaur won the Assembly constituency Amritsar East constituency by bagging total votes of 39,679. Trailing second behind the AAP candidate was Congress’ Sidhu with 32,929 votes. Majithia finished at the third spot with 25,188 votes. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept the assembly polls in Punjab getting a three-fourths majority in a strong electoral performance that pushed most of its rivals in the state to the margins.
According to Election Commission data at 7.26 pm, AAP has won 91 seats and is leading on one more seat in the 117-member assembly. Congress bagged won 18 seats and is leading on three more. The SAD-BSP combine has been able to win only four seats and BJP two in the contest in the state which was being seen as multi-cornered.
