Oppn in disarray\, Cong confident of winning all 13 seats in Punjab

Oppn in disarray, Cong confident of winning all 13 seats in Punjab

Press Trust of India  |  Chandigarh 

The ruling in Punjab is confident of winning all 13 seats in the state as it faces a "faction-ridden" and "divided" Opposition in the hustings.

"We are seeing the opposition the way it is. Akali Dal has disintegrated and has also broken into groups. BJP, within its cadres, has a lot of infighting," said Asha Kumari, Punjab affairs in-charge.

She exuded confidence that Congress will win all 13 seats in the state.

To accomplish its 'Mission 13', Congress will highlight the achievements of its two-year regime and target the BJP-led Centre for its "failures" at the national level.

Both (AAP) and will highlight the "non-performance" of the on poll promises like farm debt waiver and for youths etc.

It is going to be interesting to see how fares in the elections in the backdrop of expulsion of Taksali (old guard) leaders Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, and

The three floated (Taksali) late last year.

has described the leaders as of "no consequence".

The resignation of senior from party posts in September last year also did not augur well for SAD.

It came at a time when the party was facing heat over sacrilege of religious scriptures and pardon granted to Dera in a blasphemy case.

The SAD, which claims to be the "only custodian" of Sikh issues, has rejected the report, which dealt with sacrilege incidents in Punjab.

It also accused the Special Investigation Team, probing the 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents, of implicating party leaders at the behest of Congress.

The going is likely to be tough for as well, which has grappled with infighting and factionalism in the state unit.

It is going to be an uphill task for the party to retain the four seats which it had won in the 2014 polls despite a Modi wave across the country.

Senior parted ways with AAP after he was ousted from the post of the of opposition.

Khaira, along with seven other MLAs, had formed a parallel ad hoc political affairs committee and declared the "autonomous", before resigning from AAP in January this year.

He floated a new party -- (PEP).

The comprising PEP, Bahujan Samaj Party, Lok Insaaf Party, suspended AAP Manch, and Revolutionary Marxist Party of (RMPI) is also in the fray.

The has announced seven candidates for the

Besides AAP's four seats, Congress had won three, SAD won four and BJP bagged two in 2014 elections.

However, in 2017 Gurdaspur bypoll, necessitated by the death of BJP Vinod Khanna, Congress candidate won the seat.

Polling will be held in Punjab in single phase on May 19 and results will be announced on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, March 18 2019. 16:00 IST