Jalandhar: With the impressive win of AAP leader Mohinder Bhagat in the Jalandhar West assembly by-election, the Aam Aadmi Party has cemented its place as a party that has the magic power – one that can be relied upon to revive the failing careers of leaders who were sidelined in their former parties. Though it is merely a by-election, the party’s win is significant and will leave its mark in the upcoming state elections. While AAP workers were upset with the Sushil Rinku-Sheetal Angural duo for leaving the party in the lurch just before the 2024 Jalandhar Lok Sabha elections, this win has come as a relief for the party and its workers who have been waiting to take revenge on them ever since.
It has been repeatedly said during the elections that the AAP has made big leaders out of people whose careers were in their last years. The AAP had resurrected the careers of both Sushil Rinku (in the 2023 by-election) when he was brought in from the Congress and Sheetal Angural (in the 2022 assembly elections) when he left the BJP. This was one of the reasons for the workers’ resentment. In the 2023 by-election, the Congress had chosen Karamjit Chaudhary as its candidate. And Sheetal Angural would not have even imagined contesting as an MLA from the BJP. But he became a prominent leader and voice in Doaba politics after getting an AAP ticket and winning with the support of energetic Aam Aadmi Party workers. In the Jalandhar Lok Sabha election, Rinku finished second to Charanjit Singh Channi of the Congress, leaving the AAP at number three, while the AAP has found its moment in the Jalandhar West by-election.
Disillusioned former BJP leader Mohinder Bhagat could not register a win against the same leaders (Rinku and Angural) in 2017 and 2021, but is now set to become a minister. He is the latest leader to win from Doaba riding on the massive support base of AAP. Bhagat’s luck shone when Sheetal Angural resigned as MLA (which many now call political suicide) and joined the BJP along with Rinku. Had the by-election not been needed, Bhagat would have had to wait longer. Apart from being the AAP candidate in the by-election, the affection of the workers towards Bhagat was also evident. He stood smiling behind the CM during his speeches and greeted the workers with a hug after winning the by-election yesterday. His loyalty and “honesty” have been the main planks for AAP to fight the election. It is being said that he may be chosen for the state sports ministry as his family has a long association with this business which is one of the backbones of trade in Jalandhar west. His son Atul Bhagat also runs sports goods manufacturing units.
