21 sitting Cong MLAs lost,Capt takes ‘SAD’ report card to Sonia

Then comes Manpreet’s Badal’s fledgling new front,which the Congress was dismissive about before the polls,thinking it would dent the Akali vote. “The PPP polled a total of 7 lakh votes in the 117 seats. It cornered a part of the anti-establishment vote affecting Congress margins in over two dozen seats where the difference in votes was not substantial. These include Maur,Ropar,Ferozepur rural,Sangrur,Amargarh,Khemkaran,Dasuya Budhlada and Shut-rana,” stated the analysis.

The third factor that worked to the party’s disadvantage are the nearly two dozen rebels in fray,which Amarinder contends were propped up and funded by the Akalis. “Initially,the rebel count was 81. We brought it down to 22. It is not that we did not talk to them. But still 22 remained in fray. They took away 4.25 lakh votes,which is enough to affect the winnability of the party candidate,” he said. Amarinder,however,denied that various party factions also propped up rival candidates. “I don’t think our own people did that. The Kotkapura rebel,Upinder Sharma. is close to me but he did not concede to my request to bow out,” he added.

For poor show in reserved seats,it credits the atta-dal scheme of SAD. “The weaker sections were lured by the scheme,which is essentially a central scheme,for which they managed to walk away with the credit,” the PPCC president claimed.

The report also cited the decline in urban vote share as a factor for losing some crucial seats in urban belts. The party,which had earlier quoted surveys to claim that the various scams and Anna Hazare movement will not impact the poll results,is finally eating its words. “The upper and middle class seems to have been affected by the Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal movement and the public outcry over various scams. The party trailed in urban pockets in many seats like Bathinda Urban,Ajnala,Mansa,Samana and Jalandhar,” it added.

Among other factors,the report cited the candidates. While some seats had weak candidates (read loyalists,kin),anti-incumbency against sitting MLAs spoiled chances in many others. “This is something SAD president Sukhbir Badal countered through some deft swapping of seats. But in the case of Congress,no sitting MLA was willing to budge. While on one hand,the anti-establishment vote was split between the BSP,PPP and rebels,the Congress blundered by focussing more on tickets — ensuring parity between kin,loyalists of different factions and MPs — than getting constituency-wise dynamics right,” said a state Congress leader.