In 26 years of LS polls, Punjab has mostly gone against grain, chosen party that ends in Oppn ranks at Centre

As its 13 Lok Sabha seats go to polls on June 1, a look at the previous six general elections in Punjab reveals that in almost all, barring the 1998 and 2009 elections, the state has preferred the the party or alliance which has ended up in the Opposition benches in Parliament.

The most stark example of this is Punjab’s acceptance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), when it was still finding its feet in 2014, electing as many as four of its MPs to the Lok Sabha. The launch helped the party grow and eventually win the Assembly polls in 2022 with a thumping majority, winning 92 of its 117 seats.

1998 Lok Sabha elections

At the time, the state was ruled by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP combine. The two parties had worked out an alliance in February 1996 and the following year, had formed the government in the state, collectively winning 95 seats.

The 1998 Lok Sabha elections was an exception when Punjab went with the winning party at the Centre. The SAD and BJP together won 11 of the 13 seats in the state, with the BJP winning three. The other two MPs included former PM I K Gujral of the Janata Dal and an Independent, Satnam Singh Kainth.

At the Centre, the BJP, with 182 seats in a House of 543, stitched an NDA coalition together, after no side got a majority, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was selected as the Prime Minister. However, his government fell within months after J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, which had 18 MPs, withdrew support alleging “failure by the Centre” to act following a court’s order to attach Jayalalithaa’s properties worth Rs 11.5 crore.

Son of the then Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir made his electoral debut in these polls. He won from Faridkot and was made Union Minister of State in the Vajpayee government.

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