Many organizations of the farmers’ movement, which came into the limelight by protesting against the three agricultural laws of the withdrawn center, fought the elections of Punjab Vidhan Sabha 2022 together. Now that it has been decided that Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann is going to become the next Chief Minister of the state, then it is also necessary to know what happened to those organizations who fought elections by shielding the movement? Did the farmers’ movement show some effect in front of your massive victory?
Looking at the results, the peasant movement hardly showed any effect on these elections. In fact, AAP was not the only one promising “change” in Punjab. Riding on the wave of the successful peasant movement, the farmers’ unions also made the same promise through their political front – the Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM). But in the AAP wave, the farmers’ front also came to an end and out of the 94 candidates who had entered the fray as independent candidates, 93 lost their deposits.
You might be surprised to know that Samyukta Samaj Morcha chief Balbir Singh Rajewal (79), who was the coordinator of the SKM playing an important role in the farmers’ movement, was also among the contestants who could not save their security deposit. He lost the election battle from Samarla.
Rajewal got only 4,676 votes – 3.5% of the total votes. Lakhbir Singh Lakha Sidhana, an accused in the Red Fort violence case, was the only candidate who saved his bail money. Sidhana got 28,091 votes (20.64% of the total voter turnout) in Maur and came second behind AAP’s winner Sukhvir Singh. AAP’s Sukhveer Singh Masarkhana won by 63,099 votes.
SKM’s legal cell convenor and All India Kisan Sabha Mahasangh president Prem Singh Bhangu was in the fray from Patiala’s Ghanaur seat and got only 1,681 votes.
After spending a year providing medical aid to farmers at the Tikri border, Dr Sukhmandeep Singh Dhillon gave up his dream of doing MD in the US to contest from Tarn Taran, but could garner only 1,315 votes. Gurpreet Singh Kotli, a teacher and marginal farmer, who covered the farmers’ movement through his Facebook live feed, also managed to garner 880 votes from the Giddarbaha constituency. Kotli had campaigned on a tractor and never went home during his entire election campaign.
From Moga, liquor contractor, Navdeep Sangha had left AAP to join SSM but got only 1,887 votes, while DU college professor Anupar Kaur Sandhu’s security deposit was also forfeited from Muktsar and got only 909 votes . These are some examples. As mentioned above, out of 94 candidates of the Farmers’ Front, 93 forfeited their deposits.