Two seats, abysmal show by BJP in Punjab

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, March 10

Though BJP was expecting the role of a kingmaker in the Assembly elections, the party had a dismal outing, winning just two seats. Party’s state president Ashwani Sharma won the Pathankot seat by over 7,759 votes, while Jangi Lal Mahajan registered victory by 2,691 votes from Mukerian.

Four days ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda had claimed the party would do “better than expected” in Punjab and was hoping for the party playing an important role in government formation.

Since 2014, people of Punjab have bucked the ‘Modi wave’. The party was banking on polarisation of Hindu votes in urban areas, but didn’t seem to have happened. The party’s vote share stood at 6.60%. Five years ago, the party had won three seats.

This was the first time that the saffron party was contesting 73 seats of 117.

The party left no stone unturned to make its presence felt in the elections. Apart from three rallies by PM Narendra Modi and 12 Union Ministers, Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur and Haryana’s Manohar Lal Khattar, and leaders from neighbouring states were roped in for the campaign.