All Parkash here as BJP shines

After a nail-biting finish that had psephologists predicting a hung Assembly, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine today romped home to victory in Punjab.

After a nail-biting finish that had psephologists predicting a hung Assembly, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine today romped home to victory in Punjab. As Amarinder Singh was left red in the face, the sweetest news was reserved for the BJP, which wrested 19 of the 23 seats it fought, surprising many in the alliance8217;s own ranks. Though the trend became clear early in the morning, Amarinder refused to concede defeat till the last vote was counted.

In an emergence of bi-polar politics in the state, votes were almost totally divided between the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress. While the Akalis won 48 seats and 46 per cent of the votes a gain of 9 per cent, the Congress got 44 seats and 41 per cent of the votes up 4.8 per cent. This was much less than the 62 seats it won five years back when it wrested power from the SAD-BJP alliance.

The five remaining seats went to Independents, but these too are mostly Akali or Congress rebels. All other parties, including the Left combine of the CPI and CPIM; the splinter Akali groups, including the faction led by Simranjit Singh Mann; as also the BSP and Uma Bharti8217;s party were in for a total rout.

SAD president Parkash Singh Badal was declared elected from Lambi in Muktsar district, defeating Mahesh Inder Singh Badal of the Congress, who is also his first cousin, by 9,187 votes. However, this is a sharp drop from his victory margin last time, which was 23,929 votes. On the other hand, Amarinder improved his victory margin at Patiala town constituency from 26,000 to more than 32,000 votes.

But the party celebrating the loudest and longest will probably be the BJP. In role reversal at its best, the partner that quietly took the lion8217;s share of the blame for the SAD-BJP alliance8217;s defeat in 2002 today is being seen as a major factor in the tie-up8217;s performance. Against its tally of 19 seats this time, the BJP had managed to hold on to just three Assembly seats in 2002, forcing it to fight for every ticket allotment for these polls.

There is already talk of the party seeking a bigger share of the power pie in Punjab. 8220;We are sure the BJP8217;s representation in the state cabinet will match our performance,8221; Punjab BJP president Avinash Rai Khanna beamed. If party sources are to be believed, the BJP is even eyeing the post of deputy chief minister.

The fact that a resurgent BJP is likely to assert itself, rather than toe the Akali line, was apparent in the morning as Arun Jaitley, the BJP in charge for the state, declared that the party will not allow the SADB to repeat former chief minister Amarinder 8216;s vendetta politics.

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Even Amarinder acknowledged the role the BJP had played this time, saying: 8220;We have defeated the Akali Dal, but the BJP defeated us8230; The BJP has done well in the urban areas in the north and west of the state8230; We have to see what are the reasons of our defeat in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar.8221; Ruling out making a congratulatory call to Badal, Amarinder added: 8220;The Badals will take the state back by 25 years. They have no vision, they are from Aurangzeb8217;s era. We had put the state on the path of development.8221;

The good news for the Congress was the significant ground it gained in Malwa, considered a traditional stronghold of the SAD. Thanks to bumper Bt cotton crop and the Dera Sacha Sauda edict in its favour, the Congress won 37 of the 65 seats here.

The biggest loser in the straight fight between the SAD-BJP and Congress has been the Left. Once a force to reckon with in the Malwa belt of the state, it is now in splinters. The first-timer sons, or kakajis, too fared poorly.