From a mobile repair shop to Chandigarh's power corridor: Labh Singh Ugoke defeats Charanjit Singh Channi in Bhadaur

AAP candidate from Bhadaur Assembly seat Labh Singh Ugoke on Thursday defeated his Congress rival and Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi by a comprehensive margin of 37,558 votes. Ugoke, 35, comes from a humble background. His father is a driver, his mother works as a sweeper and he ran a mobile repair shop before he joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a volunteer in 2013.

The Bhadaur (SC) assembly segment in Barnala district shot into limelight when the Congress announced that Channi will be contesting from the seat besides Chamkaur Sahib.

By fielding Channi from Bhadaur, the Congress was eyeing electoral gains in Punjab's politically significant Malwa region, which has a good presence of Dalits.


A 12th pass, Ugoke was confident of his victory from day one. He had accused Channi of wearing a "mask of an aam aadmi (common man)".

"There are 74 villages in my constituency and I know the problems of every village. For me, Bhadaur is not a 'halqa' (constituency) but my family. Channi sahab does not know the names of even 10 villages of Bhadaur seat," Ugoke had told PTI last month.




"Channi sahab is not an 'aam aadmi'. Even though he is from a Dalit family, he is living the life of a king," he had said.

In 2017, AAP's Pirmal Singh Dhaula won from the Bhadaur seat. However, Dhaula joined the Congress last year. The Congress had won Bhadaur in 2012. The Shiromani Akali Dal won this seat in 1997, 2002 and 2007.