OP Soni: 5th Deputy CM of Punjab from Mayor: Second MLA from Amritsar Central seat, who rose to the post of Deputy Chief Minister; In 2009, the court had also reached against Sidhu.

OP Soni is the new Deputy CM of Punjab. file photo.

Om Prakash Soni, who became the first Mayor of Amritsar, took over as the 5th Deputy CM of the state on Monday. She is the second person from Amritsar district to reach this position. Earlier, Balram Das Tandon was elected Deputy CM from 17 February 1969 to 26 March 1970. Another similarity between Soni and Balram Das Tandon is that both were elected MLAs from Amritsar Central seat. OP Soni won all elections except one in his entire political career. Soni entered the hearts of the people of Amritsar when he became the first mayor of the city.

Amritsar was given the status of a municipal corporation in 1991. Then councilors were elected and Soni got the chance to become the first mayor of the city. He contested independent elections twice and won both the times. Soni was born on 3 July 1957 in the house of Jagat Mittar Soni in village Bhilowal Pakka, Amritsar. He did his studies in Amritsar and did his post graduation. Soni won the assembly elections for the first time in 1997.

Soni had contested the independent elections
In 1997 there was an alliance of Congress and Communist Party. After becoming the mayor, Soni’s stature had become very high in the city. Assembly elections were declared in 1997. Soni presented the candidature from Amritsar West during the elections. But this seat was in the hands of the Communist Party and the Congress refused to give him a ticket. Angered by this, Soni made up her mind to contest the independent elections and also won. The same situation arose in 2002 and Soni again stood free and won.

Got ticket from Congress in 2007
In 2007, Congress fielded Soni from Amritsar West and he once again got success. It was his hat-trick. The Congress had also understood that there is no one stronger candidate than Soni in Amritsar. In 2012, Captain Sarkar gave ticket to Soni from the Central constituency. Soni won, but Congress could not come to power. After this, in 2017, Soni again contested from the Central constituency and after the victory was made the first Education Minister and now the Medical Education and Research Minister.

When Soni stood against Sidhu
During the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, Congress had fielded Om Prakash Soni in front of Punjab Pradesh Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu (then in BJP). Soni’s victory in these elections was considered certain. Soni was getting an edge since the morning of the counting day. It is said that the Soni camp also got the laddus prepared. But in the evening, Sidhu was declared the winning candidate right away. The difference between the votes received by both was only 6858. After which Soni had moved the court. However, there was no decision on this in the court.