Monday, Feb 25, 2002
Monday, Feb 25, 2002 |
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Prominent winners: Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh.
CHANDIGARH, FEB. 24. The electorate of Punjab gave the Congress party a wafer thin margin of only three seats to form the next Government in the State. While the party bagged 62 seats, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) managed just 41 seats. The results for 116 seats out of the 117 constituencies were declared here this evening. The BJP, which, in alliance with the SAD, had put up 23 candidates, had three surprise winners, while most of their top leaders fell like pins giving away massive margins. On the other hand, the CPI, which had an alliance with the Congress, also suffered heavy losses, when both of its sitting legislators lost. The CPI, which had adopted the Congress aspirant, Gurjant Singh, wrested Pucca Kalan seat from the SAD, whose sitting legislator, Makhan Singh, had left the former before the 1997 polls. As many as nine Independent candidates have also won. Meanwhile, the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Amarinder Singh, who won from Patiala, termed the victory as a mandate against corruption. The Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, who won from Lumbi, tendered his resignation. However, the Governor, J.F.R. Jacob has asked him to continue in office till alternate arrangements were being made. The Congress has convened the meeting of its elected candidates on Tuesday. The most striking aspect of the elections was the performance of the conglomerate of fringe Akali factions, the Panthic Morcha and the BSP, who were referred to as the ``spoilers'' for the ruling SAD and the Congress respectively. The Morcha, which enjoyed the loyalties of 13 legislators, did not win a single seat. Similarly the BSP also lost its lone seat. The Congress, however also suffered a setback as compared to the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, when the party led in 72 assembly segments, to bag eight Parliamentary seats. Also interestingly, the Congress lost three of the six seats where the party chief, Sonia Gandhi, addressed public rallies. The Congress made a major gain in Majha comprising two border districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar, where it gained as many as 15 seats. Of the 27 seats in these districts, which were once the hotbed of terrorism, the Congress could not get a single seat in the 1997 assembly polls. In the Doaba region, despite an awesome BSP presence the Congress bagged 16 of the 25 seats. In the Malwa, where 64 seats were at stake, the Congress shared the laurels with the Akalis, though the region is considered to be the stronghold of the latter. However, the factional feud with Lok Sabha representative, Jagmeet Singh Brar, in the eye, proved to be costly for the Congress, which lost all the nine assembly segments falling under his Faridkot parliamentary seat.
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