Malwinder Singh Kang, 45, has had many victories under his belt. As a member of the Panjab University basketball team, he won the gold medal thrice in intervarsity games. He was twice elected president of the university students’ council, and has now extended his stellar record to the Lok Sabha polls as well, winning the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha seat in a tight fight. Kang is among the eight candidates elected to the lower house from Punjab for the first time.
“I will raise issues related to federalism, the discrimination against Punjab on the issue of our state capital, water sharing and funds allocated,” said Kang, who represents the Aam Aadmi Party. He was earlier with the BJP, but quit during the farmers’ agitation to join the AAP, which won the assembly polls in 2022. He has served as the AAP spokesperson for Punjab since then.
Kang still plays basketball, and loves to watch NBA games on television whenever he gets time. In the Lok Sabha, he said he would seek to become the voice of Punjab, along with three other AAP members from the state. “As a student leader, I had once protested on behalf of university students. Forty of us were arrested under Section 144. We had to stay in jail as we could not arrange local residence proof, which was discriminatory. I sat on a hunger strike in jail to bring focus on an unjust provision,” Kang recalled. Will he be as vocal in the Lok Sabha, too? Wait and watch.