4-CORNERED PUNJAB PUZZLE

FOR the first time in its political journey, Punjab is set to witness a four-cornered contest in the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab due June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the polls.

- HARPREET BAJWA

The battle scene became clear after the alliance talks between the BJP and its former ally the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) broke down. The four key aspirants in the fray are: the ruling AAP, Congress, BJP and SAD, besides other smaller parties.

The BJP last contested the general election independently in 1996 in the state. With AAP facing anti-incumbency and the Congress in disarray, the SADBJP alliance could have been a potent force. The BJP and SAD contested 6 and five assembly polls together since 1996.

In the 2019 and 2014 parliamentary polls, out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP contested in alliance with SAD and won Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats as it contested a total of three seats, including Amritsar. While in the last lok sabha polls SAD won only two seats, Bathinda and Ferozepur. In 2019, the Congress won eight seats (Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Faridkot, Anandpur Sahib, Fategarh Sahib and Khadoor Sahib) and AAP won only one, Sangrur.