It was a slender margin of victory in as many as ten Punjab Assembly constituencies that played a key role in the final outcome of poll results of the 117-member House.
Chief ministerial candidates Parkash Singh Badal (SAD) and Capt. Amarinder Singh (Congress) tell
Hindustan Times why people should give them another chance.
Manifesto nuggets
Sitting Congress MLA from Barnala Kewal Singh Dhillon and his Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rival Malkiat Singh Keetu are apparently like chalk and cheese.
Ravinder Vasudeva reports.
Raninder Singh, son of state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, takes on former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Surjit Singh Rakhra in a battle for prestige in Samana constituency. Pawan Sharma reports.
“Pichhey… pichhey ho jo (get aside),”called out a voice from a crowd of about a hundred people, all wearing blue turbans. At 10am sharp on Sunday, amid all the commotion in the hall of a high-end hotel in Ludhiana, emerges Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the “party of common peasants”, Shiromani Akali Dal.
Gurpreet Singh Nibber reports.
Being residents of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's village, they ought to be a privileged lot. However, some villagers are more equal than others.
Prabhjit Singh reports.
Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Tejinder Singh Sandhu faces a tough rival in MLA and former minister Lal Singh. The latter has represented the flood-prone area for more than three decades. Clueless on a permament way to tame Ghaggar, both are focusing on development.
Deras have been playing a vital role in elections in Punjab and this time is no different. Essentially a religious refuge, deras are the hub of all things worldly, come elections.
Harjinder Sidhu reports.
The sympathy factor will play an important role in this constituency, but it may not be enough.
Neha Arora reports.
If Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Surjit Singh Kohli — who is up against the Punjab Congress’ biggest name in the assembly elections — is nervous, he is not showing it.
In an effort to counter the anti-incumbency factor in Punjab, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is depending heavily on the feedback and suggestions given by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of all saffron parties.
Ravinder Vasudeva reports.
The upcoming assembly elections will be payback time for members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), who won the September polls on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket. Gurpreet Singh Nibber reports.
Facebook users have reacted sharply to party founder vice-presidents and former MLAs Jagbir Singh Brar and Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon’s move to join the Congress. The Facebook pages of PPP leaders were flooded with messages soon after the news came out on Sunday evening.
Punjab has been lagging, but it will slip further if the political class fails to set a positive agenda for the state. Political parties can continue to differ on ideologies and indulge in mudslinging if they wish to, but they should at least evolve a consensus on major issues in the larger interest of the state otherwise the coming generations will never forgive them.