Punjab Assembly elections: Congress Party leads in 72 seats

It was a given that Punjab would vote against the Badals.

Punjab Assembly election results came as a big shock for Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party which had put all its might and resources in Punjab and Goa. “I will also ask SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal to set up a committee to look into the reason behind party’s failure in the polls”, the patron of the party said. AAP and the SAD-BJP combine were at 22 and 18, respectively.

BJP national secretary RP Singh said in spite of the rout, the SAD-BJP alliance had retained 30 per cent vote share.

In Rupnagar, AAP candidate Amarjit Singh Sandoa defeated Congress candidate Brinder Singh Dhillon by 23,707 votes.

Contrary to expectations, the AAP finished a distant second with most of its big leaders failing to win, while the SAD’s Badal family, despite facing huge anti-incumbency, retaining three out of four seats from which they contested.

As in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, AAP’s support base across different regions of Punjab and various population groups remained uneven. The new kid on the block provided Badal-weary electorate a new option. Losers from the state include Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. Captain Amarinder Singh is going to be CM of the state.

AAP’s performance in 2014 parliamentary election had fuelled hopes it would build on its success.

Though it appealed to a section of Punjabi voters, AAP not only lacked quality leadership, it also failed to provide an alternate political vision that could win the people’s confidence.

While Arvind Kejriwal’s party did not even manage one-fifth of the total number of seats (117), it still is positioned above the SAD-BJP alliance. It still managed a lead on 15 seats, with a almost 25% vote share – more than AAP’s.

Sounding confident, Congress leader Harish Chaudhary affirmed that the Congress would form the government with an independent majority in Punjab.

However, a poor organisation in Majha and border areas of Malwa did it in.

Congress’ Manpreet Badal was trailing AAP candidate Deepak Bansal from Bathinda Urban, as per initial trends.