Punjab Election 2022: Low voters' turnout indication of Congress retaining power in state, says Congress minister
Highlights
- Punjab on Sunday held Assembly elections for 117 seats
- Congress party is going to get a clear majority, claimed party MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla
- Aujla said that Akali Dal can secure 20 to 25 seats while BJP can get one or two seats
A low voters turnout in Punjab is an indication that the grand old party will retain power in the state, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said as Punjab reported few voters. Punjab on Sunday held Assembly elections for 117 seats. The final voter turnout of 65.46 per cent was recorded in the state which is lower than the 2017 Assembly elections' voter turnout of over 77 per cent.
In this election, Punjab is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time with Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress party as key players.
Commenting on the elections in Punjab, the Congress MP from Amritsar said, "Apart from the Congress, even after the election results, all the other parties will not be able to form the government because the Congress party is going to get a clear majority. The low voter turnout shows this."
Predicting the results of the elections, Aujla said that Akali Dal can secure 20 to 25 seats while BJP can get one or two seats. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) can also win around 20 to 25 seats, he added.
There are 25 seats in Majha region in which the Congress party is going to win more than 15 seats, Aujla said. Thus, the Congress party is going to win 65 to 70 seats in the whole of Punjab.
According to the Aujla, the Congress party will do better in the Malwa region because the voters are divided into 4-5 parts.
"Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh getting bail will get votes to BJP. Some votes might have fallen into the United Kisan Morcha while some to Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party as well. But Congress has a cadre-based vote," he said.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who is the Congress's Chief Ministerial face, is contesting from two seats Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur," Aujla said.
Captain Amarinder Singh, who stepped down from the post of Chief Minister of the state last year following months of infighting with Sidhu, floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress. He is contesting from Patiala and on this, Aujla said that Aamrinder has a good history of winning the seat.
Assembly elections on 117 seats in a single phase were held on Sunday.
The counting of votes will be done on March 10.
(With inputs from ANI)
