Cong paid price for ignoring Sikhs in West Delhi seats
11 Dec 2013 5:24 AM IST
It is Balle-Balle time in Delhi assembly, as the number of Sikh candidates in the house has nearly doubled from five in 2008 to nine in 2013. Of these nine candidates, four have come from BJP-SAD alliance. The Sikh candidates that have won are RP Singh from Rajinder Nagar, Jitender Singh Shunty from Shahdara, Harmeet Singh from Kalkaji and Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who won Rajouri Garden seat by 11,008 votes, contesting on the SAD ticket.
The debutante AAP contributes to the list with three. AAP’s Surender Singh defeated BJP’s Karan Singh Tanwar from Delhi Cant by just 355 votes, while Jarnail Singh snatched the BJP citadel Tilak Nagar, by 2088 votes. Similarly, Jagdeep Singh of AAP defeated SAD-BJP candidate Shyam Sharma by 8,876 votes. The Congress brings up the rear with two, as Arvinder Singh Lovely and Parhlad Singh Sawhney retained their respective Gandhi Nagar and Chandni Chowk seats.
Interestingly the Congress ‘Sardars’, won from areas that are largely seen as non-Sikh seats and their victory has been possible due to the presence of large number of Muslim votes in these areas. ‘The rout of the Congress in Sikh-dominated west Delhi was known in advance, as the party failed to field any Sikh from any of the 10 seats here or on seats in neighbouring districts.
The Congress leadership committed the mistake of going by the advice of deposed Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who imported BJP renegade HS Balli, at the last moment as a face saver. Anger also emanated from the fact that even prime minister Manmohan Singh was forced to cancel his public meeting,’ said a west Delhi Sikh leader.
The debutante AAP contributes to the list with three. AAP’s Surender Singh defeated BJP’s Karan Singh Tanwar from Delhi Cant by just 355 votes, while Jarnail Singh snatched the BJP citadel Tilak Nagar, by 2088 votes. Similarly, Jagdeep Singh of AAP defeated SAD-BJP candidate Shyam Sharma by 8,876 votes. The Congress brings up the rear with two, as Arvinder Singh Lovely and Parhlad Singh Sawhney retained their respective Gandhi Nagar and Chandni Chowk seats.
Interestingly the Congress ‘Sardars’, won from areas that are largely seen as non-Sikh seats and their victory has been possible due to the presence of large number of Muslim votes in these areas. ‘The rout of the Congress in Sikh-dominated west Delhi was known in advance, as the party failed to field any Sikh from any of the 10 seats here or on seats in neighbouring districts.
The Congress leadership committed the mistake of going by the advice of deposed Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who imported BJP renegade HS Balli, at the last moment as a face saver. Anger also emanated from the fact that even prime minister Manmohan Singh was forced to cancel his public meeting,’ said a west Delhi Sikh leader.
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