Dropped AAP MLA Charanjit Singh Vows to Contest Chamkaur Sahib Seat Independently

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Charanjit Singh has announced he will contest the upcoming Chamkaur Sahib assembly election at any cost after the party denied him a ticket for the polls due early next year. The party named former Punjab BSP president Jasvir Singh Garhi as its candidate from the constituency in its second candidate list released on Thursday, replacing Mr. Singh. Mr. Singh stated that he served honestly with no corruption charges against him and pointed to several development projects completed during his tenure. These include a seventy-five crore rupee lift irrigation project for fifty villages, a fifty-bed hospital, two drinking water projects, a patwari office, an animal hospital, a fire office, a handball court, bus stops, and Aam Aadmi Clinics. He also noted he previously defeated former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi by a margin of over seven thousand nine hundred votes from the same seat in the twenty twenty-two assembly elections after an unsuccessful run in twenty seventeen. Expressing frustration with the party leadership, Mr. Singh claimed he failed to secure appointments with either the Chief Minister or party supremo Arvind Kejriwal over the past year to discuss constituency projects. He stated that Mr. Garhi had earlier claimed his appointment as constituency in-charge was only to strengthen the organization and not to contest elections. Mr. Garhi joined the AAP in January twenty twenty-five after leaving the Bahujan Samaj Party and previously lost the twenty twenty-two assembly polls from Phagwara and the twenty twenty-four Lok Sabha polls from Anandpur Sahib.

Context

Political ticket denials often lead to internal friction and rebel candidacies as local leaders seek to preserve their political base. The upcoming Punjab assembly polls scheduled for early next year have intensified preparations across political parties in the state.