Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Over to Punjab in final phase polling on June 1. AAP vs Cong vs SAD vs BJP contest on cards

After the completion of six phases of polling, attention now turns to Punjab, where all 13 seats will vote in the seventh and of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on June 1. 

Punjab holds significance in these general elections, as it witnesses a face-off between two key parties of the INDIA bloc —the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. Additionally, in these elections, the (BJP) is contesting its first Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, without its long-standing ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) since 1996.

In the previous general elections , the Congress emerged as the leading party in Punjab, securing eight seats. The BJP and SAD managed to win two seats each, while the AAP secured one seat. 

Thus, in Punjab, a four-cornered fight is expected between the four major parties – the Congress, the AAP, the SAD and the BJP. 

Punjab Chief Minister and Delhi Chief Minister lead the AAP's campaign. Kejriwal is out on interim bail until June 1, the day of the polls. Punjab matters for the AAP because it is the only state in the assembly, other than Delhi, where it is in power. 

This will be the AAP’s first Lok Sabha election after it swept Punjab, bagging 92 out of 117 seats in the . The parliamentary polls also hold significance for AAP, from Punjab, where it won four seats in the 2014 polls, its maiden Lok Sabha election. 

For the Congress, Punjab matters as it was a ruling party from here. Additionally, the grand old party won eight out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 general elections. 

In the 2022 assembly polls, the AAP almost decimated the Congress and SAD, which had ruled the state for 10 years, along with its former ally, the BJP.

For , which is contesting its first general election without its patriarch, the late ,