Faridkot in Punjab was known as a sleepy parliamentary constituency until the Election Commission of India (ECI) revealed on Wednesday that the seat reserved for Scheduled Castes saw the highest expenditure by candidates in the Lok Sabha elections last year – Rs 4.19 crore.

Despite the presence of high-profile, wealthy contestants who spent heavily on their campaigns, the eventual winner, Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, emerged as the one who rode a popular grassroots wave.

The contest featured big names such as famous Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s close friend, renowned Punjabi comedian, actor, and singer Karamjit Singh Anmol, representing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Their participation brought significant attention to the Faridkot seat after many years.

The last notable contest in Faridkot occurred in 1999 when Congress candidate Jagmeet Singh Brar defeated the young Sukhbir Singh Badal, the son of the late Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Although Sukhbir Singh Badal won the seat in 2004, the constituency was later designated as reserved.

In 2014, Faridkot surprised many when AAP candidate Sadhu Singh won the seat. Ten years later, Anmol launched his campaign well in advance to reclaim the seat for his party. With the incumbent government in the state, Anmol was already considered a favourite — even as the Congress, the BJP, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had yet to announce their candidates.

Despite having personal assets valued at Rs 14.88 crore, Anmol spent approximately Rs 23.12 lakh from his own pocket as his party did not provide any financial support. He ran the longest campaign, spending a total of Rs 91.44 lakh—of which a maximum of Rs 60.28 lakh was allocated to organising public meetings, rallies, and processions. Alongside Mann and other politicians, many Punjabi celebrities, including Gippy Grewal, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Binnu Dhillon, Jassi Gill, Roshan Prince, Sippy Gill, Nisha Bano, Preet Harpal, BN Sharma, Malkeet Rauni, Prabh Grewal, Gurmeet Sajan, Parminder Gill, Seema Kaushal, Rupinder Rupi, and others, attracted large crowds in Anmol’s support.

Nearly matching Anmol’s expenditure, Hans Raj Hans spent Rs 89.25 lakh on his campaign. His nomination from Faridkot not only turned the contest into a clash of celebrities but also made headlines for his frequent public arguments with leaders of farmer unions, who were opposing BJP candidates across the state. The BJP contributed Rs 50 lakh to his campaign, and he spent only Rs 12,500 of his own funds, declaring total assets of Rs 16.33 crore in his affidavit.

Congress candidate and US returnee Amarjit Kaur, a ‘parachute candidate’ with declared assets of Rs 1.8 crore, spent Rs 84.06 lakh on her campaign. She received the highest number of notices from the Election Commission urging her to maintain her expenditure register properly. She has yet to disclose how much she spent from her own funds or whether the party provided any monetary assistance.

With declared assets of Rs 1.1 crore, SAD candidate Rajwinder Singh Dharamkot—another first-timer—spent Rs 85.92 lakh in his bid to win the seat. He allocated Rs 62 lakh for public meetings and an eye-popping Rs 12.60 lakh for beverages such as tea, water, cold drinks, and juice, the highest expenditure in that category among all candidates in Faridkot.

Although Hans Raj Hans remained in the news throughout the campaign, he, along with Amarjit Kaur and Rajwinder Singh, could not save his election deposit.

In a dramatic twist, it was Sarabjit Singh Khalsa—the son of Beant Singh, the assassin of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi— who proved to be the dark horse in the Faridkot race. Entering the contest at the last minute, he claimed he had no money to spend on the election and was not a well-known face in Faridkot, compounded by a history of repeated electoral defeats.

However, about 20 days before the campaign’s end, a video of one of his supporters went viral, appealing for funds to back his campaign. In the final two weeks, his campaign gained significant momentum, leaving little time for his opponents to react. There was even a perception within the AAP camp that Khalsa would only serve to harm the SAD and ultimately help Anmol by increasing his winning margin.

Khalsa submitted the longest list to the Election Commission, with 54 donors contributing amounts ranging from Rs 4,500 to Rs 10,000, collectively raising Rs 5.15 lakh. He spent only Rs 13,500 of his own funds and a total of Rs 41.95 lakh—less than half of what each of the four candidates from AAP, BJP, Congress, and SAD spent on their campaigns.

His largest single expenditure was Rs 25.78 lakh on public meetings and processions. Although he could not reach every village in Faridkot within the two-week period, a sudden surge of support carried him to victory, defying all pre-election predictions.

Khalsa secured 2.96 lakh votes, defeating Anmol, who garnered 2.26 lakh votes despite the advantage of deep pockets, the support of the incumbent government, and celebrity endorsements.