Jaitley Amrinder take Punjab battle to new heights

Mohali: Pollsters are awaiting with bated breath two key contests that symbolise the Punjab electoral battle. BJP’s high-profile Arun Jaitley, who could even be the Deputy Prime Minister in a Modi government, is wrestling with the Congress heavy-weight Amrinder Singh who is known as ‘Maharaja of Patiala,’ and former Chief Minister. Sidhu was keen on contesting from this seat, but was denied a ticket keeping in view his differences with the Punjab chief minister, Prakash Singh Badal. Sidhu was elected from Amritsar thrice – two General Elections in 2004 and 2009 and one by-election in 2007. 

Another interesting battle is in Bhatinda, where the Badal versus Badal fight is getting curiouser and curiouser.  It’s a contest between Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD and Manpreet Singh Badal of Congress. Bhatinda has as many as 29 candidates fighting for the seat, followed by Jalandhar (24), Amritsar (23) and Ludhiana (22). The lowest number of candidates are in Gurdaspur (13).

In Punjab, traditionally the fight has always been between Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine and Congress. One or the other party has always been in power, with BSP, CPI and others occasionally winning a seat or two. The arrival of AAP has threatened to disturb that equation. The party may not win enough seats – may even lose deposits in some constituencies. Nevertheless, it has succeeded in capturing the imagination of voters. Unlike other also-ran parties, it is making an impact.

While AAP has made the fight triangular, Punjab is one of the few states where Congress looks unruffled by the Modi wave. Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine are in the process of saving their seats, which means there may hardly be any addition or deletion from the current tally. In 2009, Congress won eight of the 13 seats. All the major pre-poll surveys give an edge to Congress.

On the ground analysis, it seems Congress has strong hold over the minorities and the lower class. While BJP has also gained some momentum and has succeeded to garner few space in the minds of the electorate, AAP on the other hand has managed to divide the middle and the upper class. The division of which will be a huge setback for Congress, who won eight out of 13 seats in the 2009 LS polls.