Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party swept the Punjab polls with its election symbol broom, winning 92 seats, making a clean sweep of the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly Polls 2022 on Thursday.
The most astonishing result was of present Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who lost from both Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur Assembly constituencies.
Three former chief ministers, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Patron Parkash Singh Badal (Lambi), Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) President Capt Amarinder Singh (Patiala Urban) and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehra) also bit the dust.
In the 117-member Punjab Assembly, AAP won 92 seats, followed by Congress 18, SAD 3 and its alliance partner BSP one, BJP 2 and one seat went to Independent. Prominent AAP candidates, including chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann (Dhuri), Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema (Dirba), Aman Arora (Sunam), former IG Kunwar Vijay Partap (Amritsar North) and Jeevan Jyot Kaur (Amritsar East), won their seats with handsome margins. Other Badal family members who lost the polls, included Adesh Partap Singh Kairon (Patti), son-in-law of Parkash Singh Badal, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal (Jalalabad), his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia (Amritsar-East), Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal (Bathinda Urban), estranged cousin of Sukhbir Singh Badal, who contested on Congress ticket.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu and several cabinet ministers were defeated in the polls. Prominent Congress leaders, including Deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Dera Baba Nanak) and cabinet ministers Rana Gurjeet Singh (Kapurthala), Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (Gidderbaha), Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa (Fatehgarh Churian) and Aruna Chaudhary (Dinanagar), were able to retain their seats with thin margins. Ganieve Kaur Majithia (Majitha), wife of Bikram Singh Majithia, Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi (Banga-SC) and Manpreet Ayali (Dakha) were the SAD winners.
The lone BSP winner is Nachhatar Pal (Nawan Shahr). Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and party candidate Jangi Lal Mahajan won from Pathankot and Mukerian segments respectively. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, the Congress had won 77 seats, AAP 20, SAD-BJP 18 and Lok Insaaf Party 2. Two seats went to the Lok Insaaf Party.Â
