That’s AAP: Sweeper’s Son Defeated CM In Punjab

True to its name, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has leaders from humble origins. Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP registered a landslide victory in Punjab polls winning 92 seats of the total 117. The Congress which was the previous ruling party bagged 18 seats.

Party MLA Labh Singh Ugoke, who is being hailed as a giant killer for defeating outgoing CM Charanjit Singh Channi with a margin of more than 35,000 votes, has won the Bahadaur seat in Barnala. Ugoke used to work in a mobile repair shop before entering the polls.

Ugoke has become an MLA but his mother, Baldev Kaur, has returned to work with her broom to sweep the premises of a government school in Ugoke. She says ‘jhaadu’ (AAP’s party symbol) is an important part of her life and that she would continue to do her duty at the school.

Kaur’s colleagues believed that she would come to school only after two days as her son won as an MLA. However, she returned to school the very next day after the poll results were announced and began sweeping the premises.

“I made it clear to them that it is my son who became an MLA, not me. I am still a contractual sweeper and why should I leave my job,” questioned Kaur.

She is upset with the government for not regularising her job even though she had been working for the last 28 years.

“Our family has always worked hard to earn money and I would stick to the broom,” she said.

However, she expressed happiness over her son’s victory on an AAP ticket. She said that her son had always been confident even when the party pitted him against Channi, a popular candidate.

The principal of the school where Kaur works said that Ugoke had been a student there and even brought many laurels for their institution and the village.

Kaur’s husband, Darshan Singh, who is a driver, said that their son’s victory would not change the way they live. He wished that his son would focus on welfare of the people.

Ugoke had joined the AAP in 2013.

The previously ruling Congress bagged 18 seats.