Punjab Assembly Elections 2022 Result Highlights: The Assembly elections were held in Punjab on February, 20 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. AAP lead with 92 seats, Congress with 18 seats, SAD with 3 seats, BJP with 2 seats. Three big names of Punjab politics – Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress boss in the state Navjot Singh Sidhu and former CM Captain Amarinder Singh lost in their constituencies. The Aam Aadmi Party lead in all the seats contested by these heavyweights. Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu lost from Amritsar East seat while AAP candidate Jeevanjyot Kaur won. Chief Minister Channi lost from two constituencies he contested from - Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur. Former deputy chief minister of Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal lost from Jalalabad, his home seat, by a margin of over 30,000 votes.
In Punjab, the Congress fought to retain power after a leadership crisis triggered by the spat between Navjot Singh Sidhu and ex-Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who quit his post later. Following Singh's exit, Charanjit Singh Channi - arguably the party's tallest Dalit face in Punjab - was announced as the chief minister and will continue his position if elected to power. Amarinder Singh later set up the Punjab Lok Congress party which contested elections in alliance with the BJP. Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was announced as the Congress' unit chief in July last year also had made a bid to be announced as the CM candidate in run-up to the polls for Congress. Another party in the running, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had announced its lone parliamentarian from Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, as the chief ministerial candidate.
As per the exit polls results, the Arvind-Kejriwal-led by AAP headed for a decisive victory in Punjab. While most surveys predicted AAP will come to power with an absolute majority, at least three said AAP will end up with single-largest party with numbers bordering near the majority mark 59 in the 117-member house. India Today-My Axis survey predicted AAP is likely to win 76-91 out of the 117 seats in the state, followed by the Congress which may bag 19-31 constituencies, the alliance SAD-BSP is expected to win 7-11 and the BJP-PLC coalition 1-4. The Jan Ki Baat survey gave 60-84 seats to the AAP, followed by 18-31 for the Congress, 12-19 for SAD-BSP and 3-7 for the BJP-PLC. According to the Chanakya exit poll, the AAP is expected to win 100 out of the 117 seats, the Congress is likely to be reduced to 10, the SAD-BSP alliance 6 and the BJP-PLC coalition may bag 1 constituency.
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Water & pollution issues will arise even more, as AAP will be our neighbour in Delhi & Punjab... there's a conflict between Punjab-Haryana for water issue & between Delhi-Haryana for water supply. We'll see how they rule, Haryana CM & BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar said.
Swaraj India president and former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav on Thursday termed the Arvind Kejriwal-led party's performance in Punjab as "spectacular and extraordinary", but said it's more "an indictment" of the "entire political establishment" rather than the success of a party in the electoral battle. Speaking to PTI, he said people of the state have given their mandate to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as it managed to present itself as the "only visible political alternative". He also listed five key challenges that the AAP may have to face after coming to power in the state, saying the party will have to understand "federalism and respect regional sentiments" as Punjab has always "detested" central control and rejected the control of "Dilli Darbar". The AAP is 'Dilli Darbar' and it is controlled by Delhi, he said. "Needles to say their success in Punjab is spectacular, extraordinary. The real question is whether it is the success of Aam Aadmi Party or the failure of the entire political establishment," Yadav said. For the last five years in Punjab, the AAP was a divided house with leaders deserting it and the party did not start any movement or any agitation or any protest, he claimed. "It did not play the opposition for last five years. Yet, it has been voted to power. To my mind it shows, this is more an indictment on the political establishment which has taken the form of endorsement of the Aam Aadmi party," he told PTI.
“In Punjab, Congres presented a new leadership through Charanjit Singh Channi who is son of the soil, but the entire anti-incumbency of 4.5 years under Captain Amarinder Singh could not be overcome and hence people voted for AAP for change,” Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
The results of 5 states have come against the expectations of the Congress party but we accept that we failed to get the blessings of the people. Sonia Gandhi has decided to convene Congress Working Committee meeting soon to introspect the results,Congress leader RS Surjewala said.
Punjab Sports Minister and Congress leader Pargat Singh said thanked the people of Jalandhar Cantt for reposing faith in him for the third time in a row. “I reiterate Jalandhar Cantt is my home & u all are my family,” he tweeted.
Work will be done in line with the needs of Punjab people and guarantees promised by Kejriwal Ji. We have formed govt in Punjab, have been given a grand entry in Goa that too in the first attempt.
Leader of Opposition in the current Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, has won from the Dirba seat. The AAP leader has defeated Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Gulzar Singh by a margin of over 50,000 votes.
Charanjit Singh Channi said he humbly accepts the verdict by the people of Punjab and congratulated the AAP for the victory. In a tweet, he wrote,I humbly accept the verdict of the people of Punjab and Congratulate Aam Aadmi Party and their elected CM Bhagwant Mannjifor the victory. I hope they will deliver on the expections of people."
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he humbly accepts the people’s verdict and extended best wishes to those who have won the mandate. He also thanked all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. In a tweet, he wrote, "Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India."
The Bharatiya Janata party is all set to retain its government in Uttar Pradesh and return in Uttarakhand and Manipur. In Goa the ruling BJP will seek support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to form the government while in Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headed for victory to form the government. Check details here
“I would like to congratulate my younger brother Bhagwant Mann for becoming Punjab Chief Minister. AAP has crossed over 90 seats, results are still coming; people have put a lot of faith in us, we won’t break it. We will change this country’s politics,” said AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
