Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy

Some Lesser Known Facts About Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy

• Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy is an Indian politician who came into the limelight when he won the Jalalabad Assembly seat as an AAP candidate in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections defeating the three-time legislator from the constituency Sukhbir Singh Badal by over 30,000 votes.

• Growing up in Jalalabad, Kamboj first got interested in politics after watching his father, Surinder Singh Kamboj, who has contested the Jalalabad seat twice.

• After completing his Bachelor of Legislative Law in 2010, Kamboj pursued the profession of lawyer for a while. Simultaneously, the advocate also worked as a farmer.

• In 2007, Surinder Singh Kamboj, along with his partner in crime and head constable Ajaib Singh, was nabbed and arrested in Sector 24 Chandigarh on the charges of flesh trade racket following a tip-off. Inspector Vijay Kumar, the incharge of the operation cell, also revealed that Surinder Kamboj was involved in numerous cases of forgery, robbery, carrying smack and opium in Punjab, ^[8]Chandigarh Tribune rape, and duping a petrol pump. ^[9]The Times of India Ironically, the son of a drug trafficker Jagdeep Kamboj emphasised on a drug-free Punjab in his political campaigns.

  

• Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy began his political journey via Indian Youth Congress (IYC).

  

• In 2015, he became the general secretary of the Punjab Youth Congress. Apart from that, he has also served as the incharge of the Jammu & Kashmir Youth Congress and Haryana Youth Congress. Later, he became the general secretary of the All-India Youth Congress.

• In 2017, he became the president of Truck Union, Jalalabad.

• Kamboj wanted to contest the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from the Jalalabad Assembly Constituency on a ticket from the Indian National Congress, but the party had declared Ravneet Singh Bittu as its candidate at that time. Meanwhile, AAP fielded Bhagwant Mann in the Jalalabad Assembly Constituency. Both, Mann and Bittu, lost the polls to Punjab Deputy CM and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

• During the 2018 by-election in the Shahkot Assembly Constituency, which was necessitated when Akali Dal MLA Ajit Singh Kohar passed away, Kamboj vigorously campaigned for Congress in the region.

  

• As a member of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Jagdeep Kamboj actively took part in numerous protests. In 2018, he participated in the protests held in Delhi against the rising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, demanding the Modi government to roll back the hike.

  

• His wife, Sobia Kamboj, has aided him throughout his political journey. She accompanied him to political campaigns and rallies during his IYC days.

  

• During the 2019 by-election in Jalalabad, which was necessitated when Sukhbir Singh Badal was elected to the Lok Sabha, Jagdeep Kamboj was again an MLA ticket aspirant, but INC allotted the ticket to Raminder Singh Awla.

• On 23 September 2019, Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy resigned from the position of national secretary of IYC, citing that instead of him Congress had fielded Raminder Singh Awla. Goldy referred to Awla as an outsider to Jalalabad as he hailed from Guru Har Sahai Assembly Constituency while Goldy was a native of Jalalabad.

• A letter dispatched on 11 October 2019 by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar, stated that Kamboj was dismissed from INC for contesting the 2019 assembly by-election from Jalalabad against the official Congress candidate. ^[10]The Tribune

• Thereafter, Kamboj decided to contest the by-election as an independent candidate. His election symbol was “A man driving a tractor” and his election slogan was “Neta Nahi Beta.” INC candidate Raminder Awla won the election defeating SAD nominee Raj Singh Dibipura by 16,633 votes, meanwhile, Kamboj garnered 5,836 votes.

• In February 2020, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party.
  

  

  Eventually, he became the leader of the BC wing of AAP Punjab. In December 2021, the Aam Aadmi Party declared Jagdeep as its candidate for the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from the Jalalabad constituency.

• Sobia Kamboj also actively participated in the political pursuit of Jagdeep when he joined AAP.

  

• On 10 March 2022, AAP candidate Jagdeep Kamboj was elected as an MLA from the Jalalabad Assembly constituency, defeating the three-time legislator from the constituency Sukhbir Singh Badal by over 30,000 votes. Under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann, AAP formed its first state government winning 92 out of 117 seats in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.

  

• After his win in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections, Jagdeep Kamboj, while addressing the media said that he left INC because the party leaders sought wealthy candidates who could buy the MLA ticket instead of giving it to a deserving candidate.