Punjab Lok Sabha election results: Amarinder shows Cong the way, Badals stay afloat

The other big winner of the Congress was Manish Tiwari from Anandpur Sahib, while among its biggest losers was Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who lost to actor and first-time contender Sunny Deol of the BJP from Gurdaspur.

While the Akali Dal fared poorly, losing by huge margins in eight seats, the wins for both president Sukhbir Singh Badal and wife Harsimrat will consolidate the hold of the family on the party. In 2017, the Akali Dal had suffered its biggest rout, winning only 15 seats, triggering a revolt against the Badal family. Sukhbir’s decision to contest this time had shown his willingness to take the bull by the horns, especially with father Parkash Singh Badal almost out of the picture. It was the first time both he and Harsimrat were in the fray together. However, the tally of four with the BJP is one of SAD’s worst performances in parliamentary elections since 1999.

Congress leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. (File)

For the BJP, which won Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur in 2014, the biggest embarrassment was Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri’s loss from Amritsar, to Gurjeet Singh Aujla of the Congress.  The AAP, which won four seats in Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, lost Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Faridkot. Bhagwant Mann was the only saving grace.

Apart from Gurdaspur, the BJP retained Hoshiarpur, after changing sitting MP Vijay Sampla. BSP candidates got substantial votes in Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Anandpur Sahib, and may have swung the results in these seats.

The Congress performance in the state also underlined that in the state, the party rides on Amarinder than the other way around. He was rebuffed by the high command on several instances, including an AICC rally where all Congress CMs were invited but him. The long leash to Navjot Singh Sidhu, despite his open challenge to Amarinder, was also seen as a result of high command indulgence.

Sources close to Amarinder say if the high command had heard him on Ferozepur, the Congress could have added a silver lining by beating Sukhbir. The CM had wanted his aide and Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi to contest from there, but the Delhi leadership went with former SAD MP Sher Singh Ghubaya. Amarinder planned to field Sodhi and have Ghubaya contest as an Independent, to ensure Sukhbir’s loss.

Interview: Capt Amarinder Singh

Congress has been able to buck the national trend in Punjab. How do you look at it ?

It shows that not all is lost. If Punjab could remain unaffected by the Hindutva plank and vote for development agenda, then the tide can, and will, turn in other states too.
Yet, Punjab Congress could not achieve its Mission 13. Why?

Yes, that is unfortunate and we will introspect. On the face of it, we lost Gurdaspur because the people got swayed by star power. In Bathinda, it seems Punjab Local Bodies minister Navjot Sidhu’s last-minute remarks cost the party a seat.

What is it that Congress could not do right at national level?

That is a matter of introspection, which I am sure party high command will soon initiate.
Should Congress reinvent itself?

The Congress has already started reinventing itself under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

How do you look at the PPCC president’s defeat?

It is unfortunate that people chose the star power of Sunny Deol over the hard work of Sunil Jakhar. Maybe our democracy is yet to become evolved to separate the wheat from the chaff.