New Delhi: The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine wrested power in Punjab winning a comfortable majority in the House of 117 seats.
The SAD-BJP combine immediately set in motion the govt formation process and a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs has been called in Chandigarh on Wednesday to formally elect the leader of the legislature group of the alliance.
The legislators' meeting is likely to elect SAD President and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as the leader of the group to take over as the new chief minister. Badal won the election from the Lambi Assembly constituency.
The SAD-BJP combine won over 65 seats and was leading in at least two other seats while the Congress finished with just over 40 seats. Five other seats went to Independents. The BJP's share of seats in the combine's total count was 19.
All other parties, including the Left combine of CPI and CPM, the splinter Akali groups, including the faction led by former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann as also the BSP were in for a total rout. SAD President and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was declared elected from Lambi Assembly constituency in Muktsar district.
He defeated his nearest rival Mahesh Inder Singh Badal of Congress, who is also his first cousin, by 9187 votes, which is much less as compared to the margin of 23,929 votes in 2002 elections. The two were pitted against each other then for the first time.
Among the prominent losers were Congress President Shamsher Singh Dullo and former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur (SAD).
The Congress chief was defeated by a greenhorn Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Vikramjit Singh in Khanna (Reserved) and the SGPC chief was humbled by three-time loser Sukhpal Singh Kaira of the Congress in Bholath constituency.
Another Congress heavyweight industries minister Avtar Henry lost to first-time contestant K D Bhandari of the BJP in Jalandhar
North.
Other ministers of the Amarinder Singh government who had to bite the dust included IT minister Mohinder Singh Kaypee, public health minister Harnam Dass Johar, transport minister Raghunath Sahai, local bodies minister Ch Jagjit Singh, animal husbandry
minister Jagmohan Singh Kang, technical education minister Ramesh Chander Dogra, excise and taxation minister Sardul Singh,
forests minister Hans Raj Joshan, horticultre minister Rakesh Kumar Pande.
Deputy Speaker Darbari Lal (Congress) also tasted defeat in the Amritsar (Central) constituency. Among the prominent SAD leaders were Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Kuldeep Singh Wadala, Tota Singh, Gurdev Singh Badal and Harmel Singh Tohra, son-in-law of late SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra.
SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann and his son Imaan Singh also lost the elections. Others who faced defeat were BJP veteran Madan Mohan Mittal and state BSP chief Avtar Singh Karimpuri.
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