Punjab Exit Polls: Congress likely to be biggest beneficiary in multi-cornered battle

Mega Exit Poll

Punjab, which went for Lok Sabha polls on June 1, may spring a surprise on June 4 as the state witnessed a four-cornered battle with allies from both ruling and opposition factions fighting independently on all the 13 Lok Sabha seats. Punjab is going to witness a multi-cornered contest. AAP, Congress, SAD, BJP, BSP and the SAD (Amritsar) are contesting in all the constituencies of Punjab.

INDIA bloc allies -- the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- are contesting separately while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are contesting the Lok Sabha polls on their own for the first time since 1996.

According to the News 18 Mega Exit Poll for Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats, Congress is likely to get 8-10 seats and BJP, which is going solo in these polls, may get 2-4 seats. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to get 0-1 seat, according to the exit polls.

Among the prominent faces, BJP nominee and four-time MP Preneet Kaur is seeking reelection from the Patiala parliamentary constituency. Three-time MP and SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal and BJP's Parampal Kaur Sidhu, a former IAS officer, are trying their luck from Bathinda.

Former chief minister and Congress candidate Channi and BJP nominee Sushil Rinku are in the fray from the Jalandhar reserved constituency. Former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is fighting from Gurdaspur.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring is contesting against BJP's Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana. Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who is lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), is fighting from Khadoor Sahib.

Former diplomat and BJP nominee Taranjit Singh Sandhu is fighting from Amritsar while Congress candidate Gurjeet Singh Aujla is contesting to retain this seat.

Of all its 13 candidates, the AAP has fielded five cabinet ministers -- Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal (Amritsar), Laljit Singh Bhullar (Khadoor Sahib), Gurmeet Singh Khuddian (Bathinda), Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Sangrur) and Balbir Singh (Patiala).

Congress candidate Sukhpal Khaira is contesting from Sangrur while AAP's Karamjit Singh Anmol and BJP's Hans Raj Hans are in the fray from the Faridkot seat.

SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann is contesting from Sangrur and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, who is the son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is contesting from the Faridkot reserved constituency.