Major Jolt For BJP in Punjab and Haryana

Even as the counting continues, Punjab has lived up to its reputation of going against the ‘national tide’. Its neighbour of Haryana is also witnessing a change in scenario from the 2019 polls with the Congress making a comeback after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the previous polls.

Punjab witnessed a see-saw political battle between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on most of the seats. At the same time two 'radical' contestants sprung a surprise by registering tall leads in Khadoor Sahib and Faridkot constituencies.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) it is yet another damp performance, as it struggled to open its account at the time of the filing of this report. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) continues to be pushed to the margins. It shows no signs of revival and looks towards retaining only its fortress of Bathinda, while also putting up a good fight in adjoining Ferozepur.

One of the key factors that seems to have worked in both these primarily rural states is the anger of the farmer community against the BJP. The farmers whether those affiliated to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) or the groups outside its ambit have made a clear statement by giving the call to 'Punish BJP'.

They had not allowed the BJP candidates to campaign in the villages or had confronted the saffron party candidates with questions at different venues. They asked the candidates to explain the Narendra Modi-led government’s failure to deliver the promises they made in writing at the end of the unprecedented farmers' movement that had compelled it to repeal the three controversial farm laws.

The poll results underline a strong message to whoever forms the government at the centre that the farmers are not giving in to the corporatisation of agriculture. The farmers are also determined to get their due rights like minimum support price (MSP) for their produce along with others.

The trend in Punjab has confirmed the mood that prevailed on the ground when The Citizen traversed through the state. Punjab is one of the most vocal states of the country and it votes to send across strong signals. This time too it has done the same.

Punjab has rejected the BJP for the stance the right wing party had taken against the Punjabis during the farmers' struggle. The farmers had been branded as 'anti nationals' and 'separatists'.

At the same time the people supporting radicals like Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa who are contesting as independents, reflects their anger at another level. However, many people on the ground saw 'larger designs' behind their rise in the electoral arena.

Their victory reflects the anger against the failure of the different governments, whether at the Centre or at the state level, to address certain key issues intrinsic to Punjab. Whether it is the issue of prevailing drug menace, failure to deliver justice on instances of sacrilege of holy texts, issues of riparian rights or even issues dating back to the dark era of militancy, the people have been waiting for solutions to their problems.

Amritpal's impending victory, given his very large lead, will be a case to study. He is currently lodged in a prison in Dibrugarh with charges under the National Security Act slapped against him. Similarly, Sarabjeet Khalsa who is the son of Beant Singh who was involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was also leading with a large margin.

These trends are also a wake up call for the ruling AAP in the state as the Congress has performed much better. The AAP had won a landslide victory in the last Assembly polls capturing 92 seats out of the total of 117 seats.

It has won the Sangrur through Gurmeet Singh Meet Heyer while leading on two others of the total 13 seats. The party had fielded eight of its sitting legislators including five ministers in the state government.

The results put a question mark on the state government's performance over the last two years. Sangrur is right now the 'political capital' of AAP since it is the home turf of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

The other seats where the AAP was heading towards victory was in Hoshiarpur where its candidate Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal was in the lead and Anandpur Sahib where Malvinder Singh Kang was ahead in the counting.

The Congress on the other hand led on seven seats. It had won eight seats in 2019 but its present performance can be considered good given the fact that it stood decimated in the 2022 Assembly elections. Its candidates Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Sher Singh Ghubaya were leading in Ludhiana, Patiala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur.

Ghubaya was locked in a four-cornered contest that was expected to go down to the wire. Meanwhile Congress candidate and former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was declared the winner on the Jalandhar seat. Amar Singh has won the Fatehgarh Sahib seat.

For the Akali Dal, Bathinda has proved to be the saving grace where its candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is the wife of the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal was headed for the fourth consecutive term with a large lead over her rivals.

Both the Akalis and the BJP have incurred electoral damages on account of their alliance falling apart at the height of the farmers' movement in 2020. This was for the first time in almost three decades that these parties have gone solo.

In Punjab, most of the candidates are refraining from celebrations till June 8, in view of the anniversary of Operation Bluestar being observed from June 2 onwards.

Coming to Haryana, the Congress has made a comeback at the crucial juncture when the state is headed for an assembly poll after a few months from now. The party that had failed to win a single seat in 2019 was leading in five of the ten seats at the time of filing this report.

Apart from the farmers' issues, the Agniveer scheme, anti-incumbency against the ruling BJP government in the state as well as the Centre, anger fueled by the agitation by the women wrestlers against the BJP leader Brij Bhushan Singh, and large scale unemployment were the key factors that played out during the campaign for these elections.

The Congress candidates that were leading included Varun Chaudhary from Ambala, Kumari Selja from Sirsa, Jai Prakash from Hisar, Satpal Brahamchari from Sonipat and Deepender Singh Hooda from Rohtak.

For the BJP, the candidates holding the fort included Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurugram, Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal, Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, Dharambir Singh from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Krishan Pal from Faridabad.