AAP pick for Sangrur LS bypoll: B-School grad village sarpanch

With the declaration of his name, speculation of fielding Manpreet Kaur, sister of Bhagwant Mann, has ended. Posters in favour of her candidature had appeared in Sangrur and Barnala cities in the past.

Soon after the CM declared Gurmel’s name, comments on his social media post mentioned that by not naming his sister as the candidate, the AAP had saved itself from a blunder.

Gurmel came into limelight in November 2020 when 23-acre land of his village had been transferred by the panchayat department to the health department as the government planned to give this land to a private player for constructing a private medical college.

Local Sangrur MLA Vijay Inder Singla was the Cabinet minister at that time. Gurmail had moved the High Court against this decision after passing a resolution in gram sabha. Eventually, the land was transferred back to the panchayat.

“Farming is done on that land as of now,” said Mukesh Malaud, president of Zamin Prapati Sangrash Committee. “We had also lodged many protests.”

The AAP had staged protests outside the house of Singla a number of times and by the end of 2021, the land was transferred to the panchayat, which had 11 ward members. Five members had supported the village sarpanch in getting the 23-acre land back. Those six members who did not support the sarpanch were suspended soon after the AAP came to power in the state as, according to Gurmel, they were Congress-backed candidates.

However, many Sangrur residents complain that Gurmel is hardly accessible. “What to talk of the district president, even newly elected AAP MLA Narinder Kaur Bharaj hardly picks our phone calls,” said a Sangrur resident.