CHANDIGARH, OCT 10: The Congress in Punjab has dealt a severe blow to the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine, thanks mainly to the split in the Akali vote bank caused by the third front or what is popularly called the Tohra factor and polarisation of the Dalit votes in favour of the Congress. The party wrested eight out of the 13 seats with yet another going to its ally, the CPI.A close look at the segment-wise breakup reveals that the factor was in full play in about half the seats and that the damage to the ruling combine has been much more than what is being assessed. The Akali Dal-BJP combine has lost in the Assembly segments represented by several senior ministers, including Finance Minister Capt. Kanwaljit Singh (Banur) and Local Bodies Minister Balramji Das Tandon (Rajpura). Other Cabinet ministers in this category include Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, Food and Supplies Minister Madan Mohan Littal, Health Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Public Health Minister Raja Narinder Singh, Transport MinisterRaghbir Singh and Welfare Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur.The impact of the third front comprising AISAD led by former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Bahujan Samaj Party, Akali Dal (Amritsar), Akali Dal (Democratic) and Akali Dal (Panthic) seems to have been the most decisive factor in these elections.While winning Sangrur, the Front seems to have ensured the defeat of the ruling combine candidates in six seats, including Faridkot, Jalandhar, Phillaur, Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Patiala. However, there is yet another dimension. The Dalit voters, where the BSP did not put up its candidates, polarised in favour of the Congress. And a division in the Sikh vote bank also favoured the Congress.In Jalandhar, the victory margin is 28,566 and Kuldip Singh Wadala of Akali Dal (Democratic) secured 38,649 votes. The defeat of Union minister of State Sukhbir Singh Badal could be due to various other factors but what cannot be ignored is that Akali Dal (Panthic) candidate HarcharanSingh Rode polled 8,359 votes while Jagmeet Singh Brar won this seat by a margin of 5148 votes.It is perhaps for the first time after Operation Bluestar in 1984 that such a split has been witnessed in the Akali vote bank.
