How did AAP's Jeevan Jyot defeat Sidhu & Majithia in Punjab?

Amritsar: Jeevan Jyot Kaur's win in Amritsar East for the Aam Aadmi Party is symbolic of its sweep in Punjab, where it defeated the Congress' Navjot Sidhu and the Shiromani Akali Dal's Bikram Singh Majithia, reports the Quint.

As many have stated, this was a classic case of David vs Goliath with Sidhu as Punjab Congress' chief and Majithia, sitting as the SAD's 'Majhe Da Jarnail' (General of the Majha region) and also his being Sukhbir Badal's brother-in-law.

It would be the first time either Sidhu or Majithia has lost an election in their careers.

Jeevan Jyot Kaur, the 'Pad Woman' of Amritsar

She is the district president for the Amritsar (Urban) district of the party, and is known as "padwoman" for her work in promoting menstrual hygiene in Amritsar.

Her organization has created awareness of sanitary pads made of plastic and distributed reusable sanitary pads to women through the S.H.E. Society.

The reports stated that she had partnered with a Swiss company to offer reusable pads to women.

As reported by The Quint in January, Jeevan Jyot was the main challenger to Sidhu, not Majithia.

Despite facing two formidable opponents, Jeevan Jyot had a lot of goodwill for being a common person who had entered politics.

Issue-based campaigns

According to a party functionary closely involved with Jeevan Jyot's campaign, "These two leaders (Sidhu and Majithia) in different ways represent all that's wrong with Punjab politics. Sidhu didn't do anything in the seat, Majithia has allegations against him. We didn't want their personality contest to divert from real issues."

The party official stated that the party focused on issues that were important to people - such as poor civic infrastructure in slums and the lack of adequate healthcare and sanitation.