As AAP, Congress head separate ways in Punjab, why 2022 Assembly poll numbers a cause for pause

WITH NO parties seemingly willing to compromise, the Punjab Lok Sabha elections may see the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Akali Dal and BJP contesting separately, leaving four major contenders in the fray.

On the NDA front, renewal of the alliance between the BJP and Akali Dal has hit hurdles, while in the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, the AAP has declared it will contest alone, and put up candidates in all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the Chandigarh seat. On Sunday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge exhorted party leaders to win “all 12 seats in Punjab”.

Before they split over the farm laws issue, the Akali Dal and BJP had an understanding through their 25-year alliance, as part of which the former contested 10 of the 13 seats in Punjab, leaving Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar for the BJP. However, the equations have changed, with the Akali Dal no more the electoral force it used to be, and the BJP confident and demanding more seats.

An alliance between the AAP and Congress in Punjab was always going to be tricky given that they are the main rivals in the state as of now, though their tie-up in the Chandigarh mayoral polls managed to be a success. It’s another matter that the election is now caught in a legal challenge due to alleged rigging by the returning officer, helping the BJP win the mayor polls.

Since the AAP first contested in the Punjab Lok Sabha elections, after it was founded in 2012, all the four main parties have managed to win parliamentary seats in the state.

In the 2009 polls, the Congress bested the NDA, winning 8 seats and 45.2% of the vote share. While the Akali Dal won 4 of the 10 seats it contested with 33.9% of the vote share, the BJP won 1 of the 3 seats it contested with 10.1% of the vote