Chandigarh: Amritsar East Vidhan Sabha is one of the most discussed seats in Punjab elections. From here, former BJP leader and current Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is in the fray. But their fight is not going to be easy. Two more strong candidates are entering the fray to compete with them. The Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded its brother-in-law and former minister Vikram Singh Majithia, while the BJP has fielded former IAS officer Jagmohan Singh Raju from the seat. Thus the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Jeevanjot Kaur. Overall this seat could be the most thorny issue in this election.
What does the political mathematics of Amritsar East say? Sidhu is currently the only MLA from this popular seat. In 2017, he defeated Rajesh Kumar Honey of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 42,809 votes on a Congress ticket. The first assembly election from Amritsar East seat was held in 1951 when Sarup Singh won. At the same time, Baldev Prakash of Bharatiya Jana Sangh became MLA from Amritsar East seat three times in a row in the 1957, 1962 and 1967 elections. The seat went to Congress in 1969 and 1972.
Before Navjot Singh Sidhu, his wife Navjot Kaur had been an MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Amritsar East Assembly seat falls under Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency. Congress’ Gurjeet Singh Aujla is an MP from this constituency. He defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hardeep Puri by 99,626.
This is how the equations changed in the last election Before the 2017 Assembly elections, the equations here quickly shifted in favor of the Congress. Navjot Kaur, an MLA from here, joined the Congress. Navjot Singh Sidhu also later joined the Congress. The Congress fielded Sidhu. Sidhu got more than 60 per cent votes. His nearest rival Rakesh Kumar Honey of BJP got only 18,000 votes. It is estimated that there are more than 1.5 lakh voters.
