Punjab: Amarinder to take charge on March 16

The Aam Aadmi Party has taken the second spot and the ruling Akali Dal- BJP combine third, respectively leading in 22 and 18 seats.

Some exit polls had also said that the AAP would win the most number of seats, and even get majority! His decision to remove Sucha Singh Chhotepur less than 9 months before the elections also went against the party. “Reasonable performance of SAD-BJP in Malwa ensured that AAP did not sweep the region”, said a Congress leader.

The Congress has done disastrously in recent elections and if it wins in Punjab and Manipur, it will be the best news the party has had in months, but questions are again being raised about party vice president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership after the poor showing in UP, where he focused his attention with an intense campaign. Many of its candidates this time didn’t have local connect and the party flirted with Khalistani hardliners.

“People voted out Akalis, who destroyed Punjab and rejected the AAP, who came more like a summer storm”, Singh said.

The NDTV poll of polls forecast 55 seats for the Congress in Punjab, closely followed by the AAP with 54 seats. It has predicted that AAP would get mandate and will become the single largest party in the state.

On the vexed issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Capt Amarinder said that it was important to see the quantum of water available with Punjab.

He played the masterstroke in getting former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, his wife Navjot Kaur, the then sitting BJP MLA and former India hockey captain Pargat Singh into the Congress fold.

Captain Amarinder further assured the people of Punjab of early execution of all the election promises, including elimination of the drugs menace, which he said would be wiped out within four weeks through the establishment of a special task force.

This is the first time since 1997 that Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal will not be the leader of the opposition in the assembly. This clears the decks for him to be sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab.

Sidhu, who was sidelined within the BJP over the last few years, has been very critical of the Badals. “Kejriwal had wrong intentions”.

Prominent AAP winners included Sukhpal Singh Khaira, H S Phoolka and Kanwar Sandhu.