The changed electoral map for the state assembly was one of the many reasons that led to surprising results for the contesting parties and contestants. For the ruling coalition, which was hoping for victory, the high margin was a nice surprise but for the Congress the result was a setback.
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance led by Akali Vice Chancellor Parkash Singh Badal won the Punjab Legislative Assembly election in 2012 by a huge margin for the second consecutive term. The results of the elections held on January 30 to elect 117 members to the Punjab Assembly, declared on March 6, came as a surprise to the contesting parties. For the coalition, which was hoping for victory, the high margin was a nice surprise but for the Congress the result was a setback.
The most interesting aspect of the 2012 assembly election was that two close politicians and cousins, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Manpreet Singh Badal – who had learned politics from the Badal family and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal – were pitted against each other.
The election also saw a major political shift – the rise of Sukhbir Singh Badal, under whose strategic command the election was contested, and the rise and fall of Manpreet Singh Badal, who founded the People’s Party of Punjab, who resigned from the Akali Dal. had given
Significantly, Badal Sr., though becoming the Chief Minister for the second time after the 2012 elections, had left major decisions to Sukhbir Singh Badal before the elections. This included strategizing for elections and leading the party’s campaign.
Punjab has been witness to a transfer of power between the two major political parties, the SAD and the Congress, in the assembly elections held every five years, but the 2012 election results were different as the latter came back to power.
This was the first time since the reorganization of Punjab in 1966 that a ruling party was brought back to power, very credibly.
The SAD won 56 of the 94 seats, taking close to 50 per cent of the total 117 state assembly seats, while its alliance partner BJP won 12 of the 23 seats under the alliance’s seat-sharing arrangement. Of.
The political decision was a setback for the Congress party as it not only failed to secure a majority to form the government, but also saw a drop in voter support. Though the party contested all the 117 assembly seats, it got only 46 seats. Though Manpreet Badal campaigned with much fanfare and gathered a huge crowd, all this could not translate into electoral victory. Independent candidates had captured three seats.
Akali Dal and BJP workers celebrating the victory
Although the SAD-BJP alliance saw an increase of one seat and the Congress scores an increase of two seats compared to the state elections in 2007, the vote percentage of both the opponents declined. The SAD-BJP alliance got 41.91 per cent votes, a decline of 3.46 per cent compared to the previous state elections, while the Congress’ vote share was 40.09 per cent, 0.81 per cent lower than in 2007.
More seats included in the reservation list
Ashutosh Kumar of Panjab University wrote in a report that the intensity of the campaign and the major electoral volatility that marked the 2012 assembly elections can be attributed to the fact that Punjab, like the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra There were also major regional changes. In the profile of constituencies due to the fourth delimitation exercise conducted by the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice Kuldeep Singh in 2008. The number of constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) in the changed electoral map for the state assembly increased from 29 to 34.
The increase in the number of reserved constituencies and the transfer of four assembly constituencies – two each from Majha and Doaba to Malwa – had significantly changed the balance of power.
Punjab is a state where leaders of all parties are identified by the region they come from. This is best illustrated by the fact that some sitting MLAs, who were ‘victims’ of the delimitation process, had to be accommodated as ‘parachute’ candidates in neighboring constituencies. This angered some local party candidates who opted to contest as independent candidates. The increase in the number of rebel candidates has further intensified the electoral battle.
Another notable factor was the decline in the influence of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (currently serving a prison sentence) on voters in the 2012 state elections, especially in Bathinda district. Voters rejected his appeal to support his relative Harminder Singh Jassi of the Congress party in the Bathinda (Urban) constituency. Jassi’s daughter is married to Dera chief’s son.
Jassi lost to SAD’s Sarup Singla, despite winning from the assembly constituency thrice. The SAD had won four of the six seats in Bathinda district, where it had failed to win a single seat in the last election. Congress performed poorly as it managed to get only two seats.
This was a reverse of the electoral scenario in Malwa, where the Congress won 22 seats in the 2007 elections, while the SAD got only 10 and the BJP two. Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon also surprised everyone by winning the newly created Maur seat in Bathinda. He had won from Ferozepur in the last election.
Surjit Singh Barnala, who had split from the SAD, failed to show his strength in the Dhuri region of Sangrur, where his son Gaganjit Singh Barnala finished third, losing to Arvind Khanna of the Congress.
Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal again won the Lahargaga seat by a margin of 3,345 votes.
A newcomer, SAD liquor baron Deep Malhotra defeated Congress veteran Avtar Singh Brar in Faridkot, while Congress leader Jagmeet Brar’s brother Ripjit Singh Brar was defeated by SAD candidate Mantar Singh Brar in Kotkapura area. Congress veteran Sunil Jakhar defeated BJP’s rebel Shivlal Doda in Abohar seat and captured Abohar seat. Razia Sultana, who remained the face of Congress in Malerkotla, lost to Farzana Alam of SAD.
female voters going to vote
Expressing concern over Punjab facing several crises in various sectors, the Congress, in its manifesto released ahead of the 2012 state elections, called for rejuvenating the agricultural sector by launching the second Green Revolution and reviving the industrial sector in Punjab. Big promises were made. Congress had also committed to provide 24×7 power supply to all users by efficiencies, restructuring and improving the existing power distribution system.
Promises to improve law and order, to make the government machinery accountable to the people of Punjab, and above all to bring Punjab to glory as the most developed and prosperous state in India were some of the other assurances given by the Congress. During election campaigns, Congress had expressed concern over the state’s stagnant agricultural economy, flight of industry from Punjab, poor quality of education, poor health system, rising number of cancer cases and drug addiction in the state. Unprecedented power cuts and empty coffers were other concerns.
Assuring support to new industrial houses willing to invest in the state, the Congress had promised to allow self-certification by promoters instead of waiting to get 14 different types of approvals. The Congress had also promised to set up a powerful Vigilance Commission to check corrupt practices in the state government machinery.
The Akali Dal in its list of promises had promised voters to make Punjab a power surplus state by 2013, making the current power crisis a thing of the past. In the absence of reliable power supply, many industries were facing heavy losses due to frequent shutdowns. Focusing on youth power, the SAD manifesto promised free laptops with data cards for class 12 students in government schools and 10 lakh jobs for the youth. The party also focused on its old agenda of getting more financial powers for the state from the Centre. At that time, the Congress Party-led UPA government was at the Centre.
The ruling party in Punjab had also promised free education to all girl students up to graduation level and government jobs to all sportspersons who have won medals in international competitions. Assuring “development for all”, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who held the post of deputy CM for more than four years, promised zero tolerance to corruption and ensured an independent and autonomous Lokayukta . The party’s election manifesto promised free education till class 12 to boys from blue card holder families and free cycles to girl students of classes 9 and 10. The party had promised Rs 5,000 to the couples to encourage them to have daughters. Parents on the birth of the girl child and a fixed deposit receipt of Rs 15,000 for each child completing class 5 and class 10. The SAD manifesto expressed its intention to cooperate with regional parties to achieve the stated goals.
The 2012 state elections also saw a change in the panthik (religious) agenda, which had reportedly been in practice since the 1997 elections. In the last few years, the Panthic agenda was started by mainstream parties to support the peace and development of the state. The change was not as straightforward or smooth as would have been desired. The fact that issues of identity were not raised during the election campaign was seen as a progress in the right direction.
losers and winners
Prominent winners in the polls were Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, and Deep Malhotra of SAD, and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Arvind Khanna of Congress. The list of prominent losers included Manpreet Singh Badal, Gurdas Badal (both PPP); Maheshinder Singh Badal, Harminder Singh Jassi, Ripjeet Singh Brar, Razia Sultana (Congress); and Gaganjit Singh Barnala (SAD-L).
The Manpreet-led PPP may not have won a single seat, but it garnered a vote share of 5.17 per cent, over the BSP’s 4.3 per cent. Manpreet’s aides Bhagwant Singh Mann, Gurpreet Singh Bhatti, Abhay Singh Sandhu and others all lost. The PPP had fielded 91 candidates, the CPI 14 and the CPM nine. Later, a year before the 2017 state elections, Manpreet merged the PPP with the Congress party in January 2016.
Punjab 2012 State Elections
Of the 1,078 candidates who contested the 2012 state elections, Manpreet Singh Badal was the only one to do so from two constituencies. The ruling SAD won 21 of the 38 assembly seats in the Malwa region, defying the calculations of the Congress and the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP). Give to BJP while Congress won 15. SAD rebel and PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal and his father Gurdas Badal were the chief losers.
Manpreet lost his traditional Giddarbaha and Maur constituencies. To the dismay of election pundits, he finished third in both the constituencies. His father Gurdas Badal, who was pitted against his brother and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the long seat, lost his bail money. The election result was surprising as all the rallies addressed by him were packed.
Despite the anti-incumbency wave, Parkash Singh Badal broke all his previous records by securing a lead of 24,739 votes in Lambi and defeating his nearest rival and Congress cousin Maheshinder Singh Badal. He won the 2007 election by a margin of around 9,000 votes when Gurdas Badal was his election manager.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal took the state’s highest victory tally of 50,316 in Jalalabad. He maintained an unassailable lead from the start over his Congress rival. Sukhbir had devoted very little time to his campaign in Jalalabad. Instead, he appointed his close confidante Nirbjit Singh Dhanoa to work while he toured other constituencies.
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