Congress hopeful of 6 seats in Punjab
Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, June 3
Having suffered a debacle in the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress now expects to put up a much better show in the Lok Sabha elections the results for which will be declared tomorrow.
Party expects Close fight on 4 seats
- The Congress expects to win Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary seats
- The party also expects to put up a close fight in Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Sangrur and Ferozepur constituencies
Factors it’s banking on
- Anti-incumbency against AAP
- Promise of giving Rs 1 lakh to every poor woman
- Division of Jat & non-Jat votes
Analysing the poll data at the party’s war room, strategists express confidence that the party will win at least six seats, namely Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib. They say the factors such as anti-incumbency against AAP, the promise of giving Rs 1 lakh to every poor woman and the division of Jat and non-Jat votes will make the party sail through.
In the 2022 Assembly poll, the party was reduced to 18 seats from 77 in the 2017 Assembly elections. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, it had won eight of 13 LS seats.
Party leaders claim that the state had always voted against the national trend. During the Modi wave in the 2019 parliamentary elections, it was only Punjab where the party, under the leadership of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, had done well by winning eight seats.
The seats for which the party is expecting a close fight are Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Sangrur and Ferozepur.
Amid the reports of expected consolidation of non-Jat votes (Hindus and Dalits) in the state, party strategists point out that the vote share of the BJP might increase, but that does not mean that their candidates would emerge victorious in various multi-cornered contests. They claim that the main contest on 10-11 seats was between the Congress and AAP.
“The division of Jat and non-Jat votes can bring down the winning margin of candidates to some extent. The 22 per cent vote share of the farming community will also give some benefit to the party,” said a senior PPCC leader.
