Punjab heads for 2-way showdown

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 24

While Punjab may not figure high on the agenda of major political parties as it sends only 13 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha, this General Election is crucial for the border state as it will determine the future political discourse here.

If the 2014 parliamentary elections saw the emergence of a formidable third front in the form of Aam Aadmi Party, which continued to surge up the political scale till 2017 when it became the main Opposition party, this election seems to once again veer towards a two-party system. In spite of the emergence of Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) led by Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP), a breakaway group of AAP, and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali), formed by rebel Akali leaders, these rebels as well as AAP candidates seem to have failed to cut much ice with the electorate in a majority of the 13 constituencies.

With all parties now having named their candidates, the electoral battle seems set between the ruling Congress and the Akali-BJP alliance.

Though both AAP and the PDA — comprising PEP, Lok Insaaf Party, BSP and Left — have fielded candidates in all 13 seats, their electoral prospects seem restricted to just four. Also, the Akali Dal Taksali, led by MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, has fielded candidates in just two seats.

It thus seems their fight against the two traditional parties will be restricted. Within two years, when the third political front had emerged as a formidable political force, it seems this election will steer the state back to a largely two-party system.

This is not the first time that the third front has lost its sheen on the state’s political spectrum. In 1989, Simranjit Singh Mann's SAD (Amritsar) had sent six MPs and the BSP one. In 2014, four AAP MPs were elected from Punjab, while in the 2017 Assembly polls, the party saw its graph fall, managing just 20 MLAs in spite of having created a strong favourable public perception in its favour.

This election is crucial as it will create a public perception of political parties that will determine their course in the 2022 Assembly elections.

For the Congress, it is important to show it still enjoys voters’ trust, especially after sweeping to power by winning 77 seats in the 2017 elections. With the ghost of the sacrilege incidents continuing to hound Akali Dal in the Malwa region, which has eight seats, anti-incumbency may work in its favour, thus helping them gain more numbers.