LS polls: Ruling AAP led in just 33 of 117 assembly segments in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: The AAP, which faced a drubbing in the parliamentary polls in Punjab, could secure a lead in only 33 assembly segments of the total 117, which are part of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, according to Election Commission data.

The party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections comes two years after the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit bagged 92 of 117 assembly seats in the 2022 assembly elections.

The Congress dealt a body blow to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition BJP and SAD, winning seven of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the high-stakes polls in Punjab even as two independents registered a surprise victory.

While the AAP clinched three seats, the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could win only one seat and the BJP drew a blank in the border state.

According to an analysis of the assembly-wise performance of the parties, the AAP could secure a lead only in 33 assembly segments, while the Congress in 37, the BJP in 23 and the SAD in nine.

Eight assembly segments of the Khadoor Sahib and seven of the Faridkot seat were led by independent candidates radical preacher Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa respectively.

The AAP trailed even in the assembly segments represented by some of the cabinet ministers.

It could manage to win just three Lok Sabha seats -- Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur -- falling way short of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's stated target of winning all 13 parliamentary constituencies of the state.

It had even fielded eight sitting Punjab MLAs, including five ministers, for the Lok Sabha polls. Only one minister, “Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, could register a victory from the Sangrur seat.

In the Bhoa assembly segment, which is part of the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat, represented by cabinet minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, the AAP was at the third spot.

In the Kartarpur assembly segment, represented by Punjab minister Balkar Singh, the ruling party was at the second spot after the Congress. The Kartarpur assembly segment is part of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency.

The AAP also failed to secure a lead from the Jandiala assembly seat which is represented by its minister Harbhajan Singh. Jandiala is part of the Khadoor parliamentary constituency.

The ruling party had also fielded three candidates who crossed over to it from other parties, as well as a Punjabi actor.

During poll campaigning, CM Mann had relied on the performance of his two-year government as he highlighted free 300 units of electricity, 43,000 government jobs, free medical treatment as well as tests and medicines at the 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' and the opening of 'Schools of Eminence.'

The AAP had no truck with the Congress, its INDIA bloc ally, for the high-stakes poll battle in the state.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday had asked Chief Minister Mann to resign from his post on moral grounds after AAP's defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The AAP has recorded a vote share of 26.02 percent, up from 7.38 percent in the last parliamentary elections while Congress recorded a vote share of 26.30 percent.

The vote share of BJP, which drew a blank in the elections, doubled to 18.56 percent and the SAD's vote share was 13.42 percent.