NOTA polls more than 5 parties

Chandigarh: Vote share of NOTA (none of the above) was more than at least five political parties, including CPM, CPI, SAD (Amritsar), Revolutionary Marxist Party of India and Aapna Punjab Party. Total 1.08 lakh voters (0.7%) pressed NOTA.  The CPI (23 seats), CPM (13) and three other Left parties had fielded 65 candidates, but none was able to save security deposit. The CPI and Mangat Ram Pasla-led Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) each got around 0.2% votes. Hardev Singh Arshi, CPI state secretary, said all Left parties as well as other secular forces must do a rethink about their tactics. “Neither the Left nor the Congress or AAP can alone defeat the march of the right-wing BJP," he said. All 54 candidates of SAD-Amritsar (0.3%) forfeited their deposit.   — Vishav Bharti

Count of women MLAs drops to 6

Chandigarh: Of the 81 female candidates who contested, only six won. This number is the lowest in the past 20 years (in the boycott-hit 1992 elections, only six of the 22 female candidates had won). In 2012, a record 14 of the 93 women contestants had been elected. The winners include AAP candidates Rupinder Kaur Ruby (Bathinda Rural), Sarvjit Kaur Manuke (Jagraon) and Prof Baljinder Kaur (Talwandi Sabo), and Congress nominees Aruna Chaudhari (Dinanagar), Razia Sultana (Malerkotla) and Satkar Kaur (Ferozepur Rural). No female candidate won on the Akali or BJP ticket. — Amaninder Pal

Speculation over CS contenders

Chandigarh: With the new political dispensation in place, speculation is rife that two retired bureaucrats will take over as advisers to the CM on governance. The names of four additional chief secretaries and a secretary in the Union Government are doing the rounds for the Chief Secretary’s post, including Anjali Chib Duggal and Navreet Singh Kang—both posted at the Centre—KBS Sidhu and Karan Avtar Singh. The Congress government might pick another IAS officer, KAP Sinha, for a key post in the CM’s office. With DGP Suresh Arora trying for a Central posting, those in reckoning for the top police post are Mohammad Mustafa, whose wife Razia Sultana has won the election for the third time, Sanjiv Gupta and Siddhartha Chattopadhyay. TNS

Sodhi wins fourth time in row

Ferozepur: Senior Congress leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi created a history by winning the Guruharsahai seat for the fourth consecutive time in a row. Sodhi trounced Vardev Singh Mann of SAD by 5,796 votes repeating his last performance when he had defeated the same candidate by 3,249 votes in 2012. Previously, Sodhi had defeated Paramjit Singh of SAD twice in 2002 by 5,431 votes and later in 2007 by 18,570 votes. While continuing his winning streak, Sodhi has emerged as one of the “tallest” Congress leaders in this region comprising Ferozepur, Fazilka and Muktsar districts since another Congress stalwart, Sunil Jakhar, lost to political greenhorn Arun Narang of the BJP by 3,279 votes from Abohar. Anirudh Gupta

Defectors to Cong have it easy

Chandigarh: Several leaders who switched over to the Congress emerged victorious. Former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and hockey Olympian Pargat Singh - who were at one time mulling an entry into AAP - registered wins in Amritsar East and Jalandhar Cantt, respectively. Inderbir Singh Bolaria and Pritam Singh Kotbhai, who had both quit the SAD before the elections, triumphed from Amritsar South and Bhucho Mandi, respectively. However, ex-Akalis Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike, Harinder Pal Singh Mann and Deepinder Singh Dhillon lost from Nihal Singh Wala, Sanour and Dera Bassi, respectively. Most of the turncoats in the AAP camp lost, barring Sukhpal Khaira and Aman Arora. Amaninder Pal

Double blow for aap’s Jarnail

Lambi: It was a double blow for AAP leader Jarnail Singh, who had resigned from his Rajouri Garden seat in Delhi to contest the election against outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi. He polled 21,254 votes and was on third position. After the poll defeat, Jarnail said he would remain in Punjab and serve the people for the next five years. He said he would go to Delhi to campaign for the municipal corporation elections. TNS

Artistes fail to perform

Chandigarh: Punjabi artistes came a cropper in the elections. Among the losers were Congress candidates Satwinder Bitti and Mohammad Sadique and AAP nominees Dev Mann, Gurpreet Singh Waraich and Bhagwant Mann. Punjabi singer Anmol said it was disheartening that voters had rejected artistes. A Punjabi critic remarked: “Actors or singers can entertain a crowd, but whether they are cut out for politics is a question they need to ask themselves.”  TNS

Youngest nominee in fray wins

Fazilka: The youngest candidate, Davinder Singh Ghubaya (25) of the Congress, won by a wafer-thin margin of 265 votes from Fazilka Assembly segment. He defeated Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani (BJP). Ghubaya got 39,276 votes and Jyani 39,011. Rajdeep Kaur, slain gangster-turned-politician Jaswinder Singh Rocky's sister, gave a tough fight to both. She secured 38,135 votes. Davinder is the son of Akali MP Sher Singh Ghubaya. TNS

Anandpur Sahib decides next govt

Ropar: The results have reinforced the popular belief that the state government is formed by the party winning the Anandpur Sahib Assembly seat. This time, the Congress will form the government and its nominee Rana KP Singh has won from Anandpur Sahib by 23,881 votes. A perusal of Election Commission of India  records from 1972 to 2012 reveals such trends. TNS 

Driver pushes Cheema to 3rd spot

Ropar: Amarjit Singh Sandoa, a taxi driver fielded by AAP, emerged as the proverbial ‘giant slayer’ in Ropar as he defeated Congress youth leader Brinder Singh Dhillon by 23,707 votes while SAD stalwart and Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema was pushed to the third slot. Sandoa got 58,994 votes, Dhillon 35,287 and Cheema 31,903. TNS

BSP’s vote share falls to 1.5 pc

Jalandhar: With its vote share falling from 4.28 per cent to just 1.5 per cent, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has registered an all-time low performance. Former state party chief Avtar Singh Karimpuri got 28,035 votes from Phillaur to secure fourth position, while the remaining 110 candidates lost their security deposit. As the party is scheduled to celebrate the birth anniversary of its founder Kanshi Ram on March 15, a stormy session is expected. TNS