If the Congress’ impressive victory was a surprise for the SAD-BJP alliance, the AAP failed to move ahead and instead its support base in the state dwindled.
Unlike most parts of the country, there was no wave of support for Narendra Modi in Punjab during the 2019 elections, in a repeat of the 2014 general election scenario. Parliamentary elections were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19 and the results were declared on May 23, bringing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government back to power at the Centre. In Punjab, however, the Congress won eight of the state’s 13 parliamentary seats.
The Congress’ impressive victory was a surprise for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as the party improved its position by winning three more seats than the 2014 election results. Earlier, in 2017, Congress had won the Gurdaspur seat in a by-election held due to the untimely demise of sitting MP Vinod Khanna.
The SAD-BJP alliance won four Lok Sabha seats and the AAP got one. Punjab went to the polls in the seventh and last phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on May 19. Punjab sent 13 MPs to Lok Sabha from Anandpur Sahib, Ferozepur, Khadoor Sahib, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala, Jalandhar and Faridkot. There are over 2.07 crore eligible voters in the state, of whom 65.96 per cent exercised their right to elect 13 MPs out of 278 candidates.
The elections were considered crucial for the SAD after its worst performance in the state assembly elections held in February 2017, when it could win only 16 assembly seats. The main reason responsible for the poor result in 2017 was allegations of desecration of holy scriptures in 2015, when the Akalis led a coalition government with the BJP in the state. Putting up a brave front, SAD president Sukhbir Badal contested the elections even though the party had to face backlash from voters in the 2017 state elections.
AAP and SAD’s election rallies both performed poorly in the 2019 parliamentary elections
The factionalism affected the Congress party, which had formed the government two years ago riding on a wave of popularity by promising farm loan waivers. This was one of the many big promises the Congress made to the people ahead of the 2017 state elections. The opposition, however, had accused the Congress of claiming that the state government was betraying the people, especially the farmers, as it had filled the godowns with food grains, collecting 50 per cent of the country’s total requirement.
Opposition parties, especially the SAD-BJP alliance, used the ‘Modi factor’ to garner votes. The alliance also exposed factionalism in the state involving the top leadership. In an effort to allay the negativity of the 2014 elections, the SAD has fielded its senior and experienced leaders.
AAP, which won four Lok Sabha seats in 2014, had hoped to repeat its performance but could win only one seat in 2019. Comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann proved to be the best bet for the party due to the defections. Many AAP leaders had resigned.
In the 2019 elections, three former Union ministers – Congress’s Preneet Kaur and Manish Tewari and SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal – fielded. Bollywood actor Sunny Deol was one of the five candidates who contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time. Apart from Deol, the BJP has also fielded former diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri. He contested from Amritsar, the Sikh seat of power, but lost to the local Sikh face of the Congress party. Other top losers were Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, Amarinder Singh Raja Waring (INC) and former AAP leader Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi, who lost the election to Preneet Kaur.
The vote share of the ruling Congress in Punjab reached 40 per cent as against 33.10 per cent in 2014. In the 2017 state elections, the Congress had registered a thumping victory by winning 77 assembly constituencies out of a total of 117 seats. State Assembly.
AAP’s vote share declined from 24.40 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to 7.38 per cent in the 2019 general elections, with only one seat in its bag.
The vote share of SAD, an important regional player in Punjab, has increased to 27.45 per cent from 26.30 per cent in 2014. This was encouraging, though the party won only two Parliament seats: the Ferozepur seat was won by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. , and the Bathinda seat by his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was seeking re-election from the Lok Sabha seat. The SAD had contested ten seats in alliance with the BJP, which fielded candidates on the remaining three.
The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party also surprised everyone by bagging 3.49 per cent of the total votes polled during the elections, though the party won any of the three seats it contested – Anandpur Sahib, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar constituencies. failed to do. In all, the party got one lakh votes.
Not only did the BJP increase its vote share from 8.7 per cent in 2014 to 9.57 per cent this time, but it also gained some ground, winning Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats. In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP’s vote share had come down to just 5.3 per cent and could win only three of the 23 seats it contested in the state. This time, the party not only made significant gains in 14 assembly constituencies but also performed well in several urban areas.
win and lose
In Anandpur Sahib seat, Manish Tewari of Congress defeated Prem Singh Chandumajra by a margin of 46,884 votes. From Ferozepur, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal defeated Sher Singh Ghubaya of Congress by a margin of 1.98 lakh votes. From Khadoor Sahib, Jasbir Singh Gill of Congress defeated Bibi Jagir Kaur of SAD by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes. BJP’s Som Prakash defeated INC’s Rajkumar Chhabewal by a margin of 48,530 votes in Hoshiarpur seat reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates. From Amritsar constituency, Gurjit Singh Aujla of INC defeated Hardeep Singh Puri by a margin of 99,626 votes.
From Ludhiana seat, Ravneet Singh Bittu of Congress defeated Simarjit Singh Bains of Lok Insaaf Party by 76,732 votes. Dr. Amar Singh defeated Darbara Singh Guru of SAD by a margin of 93,898 votes in Fatehgarh Sahib seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
In Gurdaspur, BJP candidate and Bollywood star Sunny Deol defeated Sunil Jakhar of Congress Party by a margin of 82,459 votes.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD won the Bathinda seat by defeating Amarinder Singh Waring of Congress party by a margin of 21,772. In Sangrur seat, AAP’s Bhagwant Mann defeated Kewal Singh Dhillon of INC by a margin of 1.10 lakh votes.
In Patiala, Preneet Kaur of Congress defeated Surjit Singh Rakhda by a margin of 1.62 lakh votes. In Jalandhar constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, Santokh Singh Choudhary of Congress defeated Charanjit Singh Atwal of SAD by a margin of 19,491 votes. Mohammad Sadiq defeated Gulzar Singh Ranike of SAD by a margin of 83,056 votes in Faridkot seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Bollywood Punch
Bollywood actor Sunny Deol was fielded by the BJP with much fanfare against sitting Congress MP Sunil Jakhar in Gurdaspur to boost its electoral prospects. Jakhar got 4,76,260 votes, while Deol got 5,58,719 votes. His AAP rival Peter Masih got only 27,744 votes.
In the past too, Gurdaspur used to be the constituency of another actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna, who won the seat four times in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014. He died in 2017, leaving the seat vacant. Jakhar had won this seat in the next by-election. Vinod Khanna’s wife Kavita Khanna was keen to carry on her husband’s legacy and contest elections, but the BJP denied her the opportunity.
Adding spice to the election campaign, the Congress alleged that the BJP had pressured Deol to contest by threatening to conduct income tax raids. It also alleged that given Deol’s reluctance to contest the election, he was bound to run back to Mumbai, which would defeat the purpose of the election as voters expected his representatives to make a useful contribution to Parliament.
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