Punjab Lok Sabha Results 2019: Congress leading in 8 seats; SAD, BJP in 2 seats each

NEW DELHI: The Congress is leading in eight out of total 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP in two Lok Sabha seats each, as per the initial EC trends.
The BJP is leading in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats while the Aam Aadmi Party is leading from Sangrur seat in Punjab.
The Congress is leading in Amritsar, Faridkot, Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar, Khadoor Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala seats while the Akali Dal is leading in Bathinda and Ferozepur seats.
Punjab had recorded a voter turnout of 65.96 per cent on May 19 for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state, almost five per cent lower than the turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Of the total 2.07 crore electors, 1.37 crore have sealed the fate of 278 candidates in Punjab.
The counting of votes is being held at 21 different locations in Punjab for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. The counting began at 8am across all constituencies.
The BJP-SAD (Shiromani Akali Dal) combine had won 6 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while the Congress had got 3 of the 13 seats. Aam Aadmi Party had won 4 seats in the state.
The Congress had, however, swept the 2017 assembly elections by winning 77 of the 117 seats with a vote share of 38.5 per cent. The AAP, fighting its first elections in Punjab got 22, the second highest seats while the SAD and the BJP won 18 seats together.
While the Congress is banking on having fulfilled its 2017 assembly poll promise of making easy availability of farm loans, the SAD-BJP combine is attacking the state government for betraying farmers, who contribute over 50 per cent of grain to the national kitty from just 1.54 per cent of the country's land. The opposition also tried to latch on to the "Modi factor" and the tension between chief minister Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Unlike 2014, the infighting-ridden AAP is now struggling to save its sinking ship, with several leaders either having defected or facing suspension. Most Punjabi Non Resident Indians, who backed the AAP even with cash, have given it a miss this time.
The AAP, after winning four Lok Sabha seats in 2014, fancied its chances in the 2017 state polls but failed. Countering defection within the party, actor-comedian Bhagwant Mann is AAP's only hope to retain his Sangrur seat.
Political dynasties continue to dominate the state's politics. As many as four Congress and three SAD candidates belong to political families. SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal's daughter-in-law and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur is locked in a multi-cornered contest in the SAD stronghold of Bathinda. A two-term MP from the seat, she is taking on the PDA's Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Baljinder Kaur and Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
In Patiala, the Congress has retained three-time MP and former Union Minister Preneet Kaur, 75, for the fifth consecutive time. Kaur, wife of chief minister Amarinder Singh, was defeated by AAP's Dharamvira Gandhi, 69, by over 20,000 votes in 2014.
However, all eyes are on Amritsar and Gurdaspur where there is a clash of personalities. In Gurdaspur, actor Sunny Deol is the BJP candidate against Congress state chief Sunil Jakhar who won the October, 2017 by-election by 1.92 lakh votes. In Amritsar, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, 69, is making his electoral debut against Congress MP Gurjit Aujla.
Another key contest is in Chandigarh, Where BJP MP Kirron Kher is contesting against Pawan Kumar Bansal of Congress for the second term.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari is also in fray from Anandpur Sahib, one of the holiest places of Sikhs. He is pitted against sitting Akali Dal MP Chandumajra. Both are engaged in a fierce battle of words, tagging each other as "outsider".