Parliamentary elections held in 2014 saw a Narendra Modi wave that spread across large parts of the country, but it failed to impress voters in Punjab. In the general elections held in phases across the country in April-May, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a total of 282 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Modi to become the 14th Prime Minister of India.
In Punjab, during the seventh phase of parliamentary elections, the newly inducted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opened its account in the state by winning four constituencies, at par with the Congress party.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance won five seats, of which the BJP won just one. AAP’s victory stunned the mainstream political parties as it was an impressive performance, as it neither had enough resources nor a strong cadre in the state.
The Congress suffered a loss of four seats as it had won eight parliamentary constituencies in 2009. AAP was a direct beneficiary of the defeat of the Congress. Congress got 33.10 percent, SAD got 26.30 percent, AAP got 24.40 percent and BJP got 8.70 percent.
Looking at the assembly constituency-wise results, the ruling SAD-BJP coalition government won only 45 of the 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab, barely two years after a landslide victory in the 2012 assembly elections, winning 68 seats. . Similarly, the dramatic verdict of the general elections announced on May 16 dealt a huge blow to the Congress, which had won 37 assembly constituencies as against 47 assembly seats in the previous state elections.
Thus, taking into account the Lok Sabha election results, the SAD-BJP tally slipped from 23 seats, while the Congress suffered a loss of 10 seats. AAP won 33 of the total 117 assembly seats in the border state.
However, two seats fell vacant before the general elections in 2019. Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna died in 2017, leaving the constituency open for by-elections. Sunil Jakhar of Congress party won the Gurdaspur by-election. In Amritsar, Captain Amarinder Singh resigned in 2016 to contest the 2017 state elections. Gurjit Singh Aujla was later elected in a by-election to the Amritsar parliamentary seat.
An assembly constituency-wise analysis of the Lok Sabha results showed that Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa not only lost in all nine assembly constituencies of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, but also suffered the humiliation of losing the Qadian assembly constituency by 2,426 votes. MLA wife Charanjit Kaur Bajwa. Another setback for Bajwa was that rival BJP candidate Vinod Khanna, who won by 1.36 lakh votes, got a lead of 60,896 votes in five assembly constituencies represented by Congress MLAs, besides maintaining a lead in four other assembly constituencies. .
Prem Singh Chandumajra talking to reporters
In Amritsar, Captain Amarinder Singh, who defeated BJP veteran Arun Jaitley by over 1 lakh votes, got a lead in seven assembly constituencies, six of which were represented by SAD-BJP MLAs.
Captain Amarinder Singh got a lead of 32,198 votes from MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu’s constituency and 18,726 votes from the seat of controversial BJP minister Anil Joshi, who has now resigned. However, in Khadoor Sahib, the Lok Sabha seat which was won by the SAD by over one lakh votes, it got a lead in all the nine assembly constituencies. SAD candidate and sitting Adampur MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu saw a decline in popularity, leading to a loss of 4,466 votes in his assembly constituency, while sitting Congress MLA Joginder Singh Panjgren, who contested from Faridkot, also lost in Jaitu assembly constituency. Represents in the Assembly.
While the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP had won all nine seats in Jalandhar in the assembly elections, the SAD candidate lost in the Lok Sabha elections in seven assembly constituencies, including Jalandhar Central, from where BJP’s Manoranjan Kalia is an MLA. In nearby Hoshiarpur, which BJP’s Vijay Sampla won by a narrow margin of 13,582 votes, the Congress got a lead of 5,000 votes over BJP’s Chief Parliamentary Secretary Som Prakash’s assembly constituency.
The result came as a big surprise in the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary seat, where SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra, despite winning only two assembly constituencies, emerged victorious by a margin of 23,697 votes, defeating Congress veteran Ambika Soni. Soni managed to lead in three SAD assembly constituencies, while AAP’s Himmat Shergill was leading in four constituencies represented by the Congress. But in the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, which saw an all-out contest, the ruling SAD was wiped out while the AAP got a lead in four assembly constituencies. Congress leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, who won by 19,709 votes, got a lead in three assembly constituencies but fell behind in others. Another setback for the Akali Dal was in the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat where the ruling party got a lead in one seat, while the AAP got strong support in six assembly constituencies.
The AAP incident affected SAD and Congress alike in Faridkot. Here, the AAP candidate garnered more votes than its rivals in seven assembly constituencies, while the Congress and the SAD were ahead in one area each. Similarly, in Sangrur, the Congress was wiped out in all the eight assembly constituencies as AAP secured a majority. The SAD managed to lead in the Lehra region, which is represented by Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
Patiala Lok Sabha seat has dealt the biggest blow to Aam Aadmi Party by defeating Captain Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur by 20,942 votes. AAP candidate Dr. Dharam Veera Gandhi won four assembly constituencies, while the SAD led in two and the Congress in three, including Samana, the assembly segment represented by SAD leader and cabinet minister Surjit Singh Rakhda.
significant development
The biggest surprise was the failure of top BJP leader Arun Jaitley to win his first parliamentary election from Amritsar. Jaitley was very close to Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, and was expected to be an important minister in his cabinet. Jaitley, a Rajya Sabha MP, lost the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat to Congress veteran Amarinder Singh, who termed the BJP leader an “outsider” who had parachuted into the Golden Temple city. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, it was widely expected that Jaitley would get the finance minister’s portfolio if the NDA forms the government. This turned out to be true, because despite Jaitley’s defeat in Amritsar, Modi inducted Jaitley into the cabinet as the Union Finance Minister. SAD and BJP leaders from Punjab had campaigned vigorously for Jaitley in Amritsar, insisting that he was no outsider as he had strong family ties with the city. Jaitley’s electoral defeat, however, left the alliance to a great deal of embarrassment.
Another significant development was the unprecedented and unexpected response of voters to the AAP during the 2014 parliamentary elections in Punjab. Interestingly, AAP contested 434 Lok Sabha seats across the country but could win only four seats, all of them in Punjab.
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Who were declared victorious in 13 parliamentary constituencies:
- In Gurdaspur seat, Vinod Khanna of BJP defeated Pratap Singh Bajwa of Congress by a margin of 1.36 lakh votes.
- In Amritsar seat, Captain Amarinder Singh of Congress defeated Arun Jaitley of BJP by a margin of 1.02 lakh votes.
- In Khadoor Sahib seat, Akali Dal’s Ranjit Singh Brahmpura defeated Harminder Singh Gill by a margin of one lakh votes.
- From Jalandhar reserved seat, Santokh Singh Choudhary of Congress defeated Pawan Tinu of SAD by a margin of 70,981 votes.
- In Hoshiarpur constituency, which is also reserved for SC candidates, BJP’s Vijay Sampla won with 13,582 votes, the lowest victory margin among all 13 constituencies.
- From Patiala seat, AAP’s Dharam Veera Gandhi defeated Preneet Kaur of Congress by a margin of 20,942 votes.
- In Sangrur, AAP’s Bhagwant Mann defeated SAD’s Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by 2.11 lakh votes. Mann won by the largest margin among all the 13 constituencies in the state.
- Prem Singh Chandumajra of SAD defeated Ambika Soni of Congress by 23,697 votes from Anandpur Sahib seat.
- In Firozpur seat, SAD candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya defeated Sunil Jakhar of Congress by a margin of 31,420 votes.
- In Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu of Congress won by a margin of 19,709 votes. He defeated Manpreet Singh Ayali of the SAD-BJP alliance.
- AAP’s Harinder Singh Khalsa won from Fatehgarh Sahib SC reserved seat by a margin of 54,144 votes. He was declared victorious against Kulwant Singh of the SAD-BJP alliance.
- SAD-BJP candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal won from Bhatinda seat by a margin of 19,395 votes. He defeated Manpreet Singh Badal of Congress. In 2014, she was the lone woman candidate elected to the Lok Sabha from Punjab.
- AAP’s Sadhu Singh won the Faridkot SC reserved seat by a margin of 1.72 lakh votes. He defeated Joginder Singh Panjgriyan of INC.
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