Shan’s Blog

Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine took a formidable lead in the Punjab Assembly elections despite CM Amarinder Singh’s boisterous claims of returning to power.

BJP appears set to form the government in Uttarakhand with the Congress conceding defeat.

BJP is already leading in over half the total number of seats in the hill state’s assembly.

In Manipur, no party has yet been able to register a distinct advantage.

Punjab

In Punjab, where the ruling party and the opposition combine were locked in a bitterly fought battle in 116 constituencies, the SAD-BJP alliance has pegged the Congress back by taking a lead in over 65 seats.

Reacting to the dismal performance of his party in the state, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said,“ It could be seat-to-seat incumbency but not govt-to-govt incumbency. We have won seats earlier held by Akalis.”

He also strongly rubbished the charge of him being inaccessible to the people of Punjab. He added that Congress would analyse the loss in urban areas.

About 76 percent of the 1.66 crore voters exercised their vote in the assembly elections on 13th February and Congress, according to the CM, lost vote share it enjoyed in the urban areas while gaining in the rural areas.

Amarinder Singh, however, retained his seat from Patiala town defeating his nearest rival Surjit Singh Kohli of SAD by 32,149 votes.

Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo lost the assembly election from Khanna (reserve constituency).

CM in the waiting Parkash Singh Badal (SAD) won from Lambi with over 10,000 votes.

In a rare negative result for the SAD in these elections, former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur lost by over 8000 votes to Sukhpal Singh of the Congress in Bholath assembly constituency.

Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal just managed to hold on to her seat from Lehra defeating Prem Singh Chandumajra of SAD by 259 votes.

Prominent Congress leader and Local Bodies Minister Choudhary Jagjit Singh was defeated by SAD nominee Avinash Chander by 11,069 votes in Kartarpur Assembly segment.

Choudhary, was seeking his sixth term as he has already represented the constituency for five times in a row.

Sant Ajit Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal has won the Anandpur Sahib Assembly seat by defeating Congress Minister Romesh Dutt Sharma by 9500 votes.

Animal Husbandry Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang was defeated from Morinda, which also went to the SAD nominee Ujjagar Singh who won by 8,420 votes.

Joginder Singh Mann of Congress has won Pangrain Assembly seat defeating senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Gurdev Singh Badal by over 3500 votes.

Balbir Singh Sidhu (Congress) won Kharar Assembly seat in Punjab defeating Jasjit Singh Bunny, son of SAD general secretary Kanwaljit Singh, by 14,000 votes.

Avtar Singh Brar, State Congress Vice President, won from Faridkot seat defeating sitting MLA Kushaldeep Singh by 2,500 votes.

Cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned from the seat following his conviction in a road rage death case, won the Amritsar LS bypoll defeating his rival and state Finance Minister Surinder Singla of Congress.

The Punjab Cabinet on Monday recommended the dissolution of the 12th state assembly to pave the way for the constitution of the 13th state assembly.

The only constituency yet to go the hustings in Punjab is Beas of Amritsar district where polling was deferred to 11th March due to violence.

Uttarakhand

Trends for Uttarakhand`s second assembly elections indicate that BJP is set to form the next government displacing the incumbent Congress.
The Congress has conceded defeat in the Uttarakhand assembly elections with its state party spokesman Surendra Agarwal saying the division of secular votes led to its debacle.
 

BJP is leading in over 35 seats, crossing the half-way mark in the 70-member assembly.

BJP state president Bhagat Singh Koshiyari welcomed the trends and the results and said the people rejected the ruling Congress due to its anti-Uttarakhand policies.

“The five-year tenure of Congress party was marred by scandals and sky rocketting prices of essential commodities,” he said.

In a setback to the ruling party, Indira Hridayesh, Uttarakhand Information Minister and number two in the N D Tiwari cabinet, bit dust in Haldwani Assembly seat.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) chief Kashi Singh Ahery defeated has been defeated from Kanalichhina assembly constituency.

The Tehri-Garhwal parliamentary constituency bypoll trends show Manujendra Shah (BJP) leading.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of the sitting member, Manavendra Shah, on 5th January.

His son, Manujendra faces the Congress` Vijay Bahaguna, son of the redoubtable hill leader and former UP CM, the late Hemwati Nandan Bahaguna.

Speaker Yashpal Arya (Cong) won the Mukteshwar Assembly seat defeating Shrichandra Arya of BJP by over 11,000 votes.

The BJP parliamentary board will meet here this evening to decide on the party’s chief minister for Uttarakhand.

Party President Rajnath Singh announced this after a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party at New Delhi.

Elections were held for 69 seats of the 70-member assembly after Bajpur assembly election was deferred due to the death of the Congress candidate.