Fate of 1,078 candidates to be sealed today
Chandigarh: Around 1.76 crore voters will seal the fate of 1,078 candidates, including the two Chief Ministerial aspirants Parkash Singh Badal of ruling SAD-BJP and Amarinder Singh of opposition Congress, in fray for 117 assembly seats in Punjab where polling will take place on Monday amidst tight security.
About 200 companies of the central Para military forces, besides Punjab Police personnel, have been deployed to ensure free and peaceful polling at 19,841 polling stations, including five identified as “hyper-sensitive” and 32 as sensitive, an election office spokesman said.
Out of the 1,078 candidates in fray 417, including 45 women, are Independents. At the last hustings in 2007, after scrutiny and withdrawal there were a total of 1,055 candidates, including 56 women, in fray.
The ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress and BSP are contesting all the 117 assembly seats. Newly formed Punjab People’s Party is contesting 92 while SAD (Amritsar) headed by former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann is contesting 57 seats.
The SAD has put up candidates on 94 seats which include 10 women while the BJP is contesting the remaining 23 seats, which includes three women.
The Congress has fielded 11 women while the BSP has fielded six women. Most of the 117 assembly seats will witness a triangular contest between the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the main opposition Congress and the Sanjha Morcha which includes the Left and People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s estranged nephew Manpreet.
Prominent among those in fray include Badal (Lambi) as also his predecessor Amarinder (Patiala City) whose sons Sukhbir, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister (Jalalabad) and Raninder (Samana) are also in the fray besides another former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehra).
Dera factor, smaller parties hold the key : Though the Akali Dal and the Congress are both claiming to form the next government in Punjab this time, the key to electoral victory in the state lies in the hands of Bahujan Samaj Party and BJP on the one hand and the tilt of Dera Sacha Sauda followers on the other.
With BJP, which was faced with allegations of corruption leading to dropping of its few ministers, unlikely to repeat its star performance in the 2007 Assembly polls when it bagged 19 of the 23 seats it contested, the Akalis prospects of retaining power in Punjab can be hit, political observers feel.
The Congress is not on a comfortable wicket either as Mayawati’s BSP is set to cut into its traditional voter base, making its ride bumpy, they say.
The Akalis and the Congress both positioned weakly with the latter enjoying a slim edge even though the Akalis are fighting against anti-incumbency factor, the support of Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim-led Dera Sacha Sauda may play a crucial role in formation of the new government. The Dera is likely to extend its support on candidate basis, which will mainly be from the Congress, the observers say. (PTI)