Punjab remains Cong's island of hope

CHANDIGARH: Punjab bucked the nationwide trend of voting for BJP with the Congress winning eight out of 13 seats in the state. The Akali-BJP alliance too managed to save face with its tally of four, including the successful entry of actor Sunny Deol into politics by winning Gurdaspur. AAP retains its toehold in Punjab by retaining Sangrur as its sole trophy.
The results would have much wider ramifications on the political dy namics of the state. Where Amarinder would now try to use the results to reinforce his almost undisputed leadership in the state, SAD president Sukhbir Badal has his task cut out to rejuvenate the party cadres after the rout in assembly polls in 2017. The Badal couple - Sukhbir and wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal - has won Ferozepur and Bathinda.
The twin victory, besides the runner up performances at most other seats, will ensure that SAD gains vis-a-vis AAP, after the latter relegated it to the third position in the assembly elections.
Reacting to the results, Amarinder said on Thursday, "Punjabis have endorsed us for the second time and I assure them that we will leave no stone unturned to live up to their expectations in the next three years. I thank all our leaders, and most of all, I thank Punjabis for such a big victory. I am very grateful... We were last time four, now we are eight. So, we have gone up by as many numbers," he added.
Asked about holding ministers and MLAs accountable for the Congress performance, Amarinder said, "Let us see, I am yet to get the final figures. But it was not a veiled threat. It was a fact that those who do not perform will have to face action." He refused to comment on specific names of ministers.
Unlike the last Lok Sabha and later assembly elections when several professions and political heavyweights lined up to seek AAP tickets, the party had to settle for fielding its party volunteers in most constituencies, besides two sitting MPs - Bhagwant Mann (Sangrur) and Sadhu Singh (Faridkot). But sensing Sangrur was its only hope, AAP decided to spend all its resources for Mann. It tried to put up a fight in Bathinda by fielding its Talwandi Sabo MLA Baljinder Kaur, but the gamble did not work.
Even before the results, the Congress leaders seemed to have given up on Ferozepur, citing the fact that its candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya was declared a bit late which gave Sukhbir an edge. However, the fact remains that Ghubaya was the first ticket aspirant to launch his campaign, soon after switching to the Congress from SAD.
The stakes were high for SAD as well and the party decided to make a reluctant Lehragaga MLA Parminder Singh Dhindsa take on Mann in Sangrur. It also fielded other heavyweights like Bibi Jagir Kaur from Khadoor sahib, Surjit Singh Rakhra from Patiala and Mahesh Inder Singh from Ludhiana. Even though they failed to clinch a seat, SAD managed to relegate AAP to the third spot at most places.
After their public spat, both Amarinder and cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu seemed to have been waiting for the election results. Despite Sidhu addressing almost 100 rallies across states in favour of his party, the Congress has not performed as per its expectations elsewhere and Punjab continues to be its island of hope. At the same time, Amarinder would now want to use the results to his favour and want to re-establish his authority in the state unit.
Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol was a surprise entry against outgoing Congress MP Sunil Jakhar, with the latter having won the by-election in 2017 by a huge margin after the seat fell vacant due to the demise of BJP MP and actor Vinod Khanna.
Where PM Narendra Modi tried to add nationalism to the political discourse in the state by holding rallies on key seats, sacrilege, justice for anti-Sikh riots and drug abuse continued to be the key issues in the state.