Chandigarh, Nov 14: Days after being denied a party ticket for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Chamkaur Sahib, Charanjit Singh, on Saturday voiced strong resentment against the party leadership and declared that he will contest the seat at any cost.
In its second list of candidates released on Thursday, the AAP fielded Jasvir Singh Garhi—former Punjab BSP president and former chairman of the Punjab State Scheduled Caste Commission—from Chamkaur Sahib. Garhi, who joined the AAP in January 2025 after unsuccessful bids in the 2022 Assembly polls from Phagwara and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Anandpur Sahib, had been appointed the constituency’s halqa in-charge in August.
Questioning the party’s decision, Charanjit Singh—an eye surgeon who gained prominence as a giant slayer after defeating former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi by over 7,900 votes in 2022—expressed doubts over Garhi’s winnability. “I am doing my job as an MLA honestly and there is no allegation or any corruption charge against me. But why has the party done this,” he asked, adding that he had been assured Garhi was appointed solely to strengthen the party organisation and not to contest.
Highlighting his tenure’s track record, Singh pointed to major initiatives including a Rs 75-crore lift irrigation scheme covering 50 villages, a 50-bed hospital, two drinking water projects, Aam Aadmi Clinics, a fire office, and an animal hospital. He also accused the leadership of inaccessibility, claiming he had been unable to secure even a two-minute appointment with the Chief Minister over the past year or a meeting with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for the last two months. Asserting that other political parties are already approaching him, Singh vowed to enter the fray from Chamkaur Sahib ahead of the polls due early next year.
