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Riding the Modi wave, actor-turned-politician Kirron Kher of BJP emerged winner from the lone parliamentary constituency of Chandigarh. She defeated former union minister for Railway and sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal of Congress by 69,642 votes. Kirron got 1,91,362 votes while 1,21,720 people voted for Bansal. Gul Panag of Aam Admi Party (AAP) managed to finish third, securing 1,08,679 votes.
Kirron got 42.20 per cent of the total votes, followed by Bansal (26.84 per cent) and Panag (23.97 per cent). Chandigarh has mostly fought predictable elections, but this time the entry of AAP with Gul Panag as its candidate made it difficult for poll analysts to judge the outcome. She remained a source of worry for mainstream political parties with her aggressive campaigning style.
It is worth mentioning that Pawan Kumar Bansal was eyeing a fourth consecutive term in the Lok Sabha and a fifth overall. During the last election in 2009, Bansal won the seat with a margin of more than 58,000 votes. Analyst said that an anti-incumbency wave against the UPA government at the centre and the April 2013 rail bribery scam, in which his nephew was alleged to have fixed a post in his ministry, were major reasons for his defeat. Bansal was the railway minister when the sandak broke out.
The BJP had faced humiliating defeats in the past three elections. However, party candidate Kirron Kher, a last-minute choice due to infighting among local leaders, managed to win riding the ‘Modi wave’. Her close associates say that Kher was able to take top local leaders along with her during campaigning, even as some of them were initially opposed to her candidature.
Business Standard had earlier reported that the Chandigarh seat would witness triangular contest between the Congress, the BJP and AAP. According to the data, of a total of 6.05 lakh registered voters, more than half the electorate in the city is below the age of 40 and analyst say young voters played a pivotal role in deciding the fate of the candidates. The city recorded its highest-ever Lok Sabha election turnout at 73.8%.
Overall 17 candidates were in fray for the Chandigarh seat.
