Shiromani Akali Dal wins absolute majority in Punjab legislature, not dependent on BJP now

By Vinay Sharma

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal got an absolute majority in the Punjab legislature after winning the Dhuri byelection on Wednesday — its tally has crossed the halfway mark of 59 in the 117-seat assembly. Gobind Singh Longowal of SAD defeated nearest rival Simar Pratap Singh Barnala of Congress, grandson of former governor and chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala, by a margin of 37,051 votes.

The Akalis now don’t need to depend on alliance partner BJP, which has 12 seats, for a majority. The Congress party has 43 seats. SAD President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal termed the victory of the SAD-BJP alliance in the Dhuri by-poll as a verdict in favour of the pro-people development policies of the Punjab government and a rejection of the negative campaign run by the Congress party.

The Dhuri bypoll took place after Congress legislator Arvind Khanna resigned.

Amid tension between the alliance partners, BJP was said to be preparing to bargain hard over seat sharing for Punjab elections due in early 2017. BJP has been in assertive mode after winning in neighbouring Haryana for the first time and the drug problem taking centre stage in Punjab politics after the Enforcement Directorate summoned Badal’s brother-in-law Bikramjit Majithia. With the Dhuri seat going to the Akalis, BJP’s bargaining power may have weakened.

Out of total 110,951 votes polled, the winner got 67,596 while Congress candidate got 30,095. SAD Amritsar candidate Surjit Singh Kalabula secured 7,554 votes and came third. The ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option got 1,071 votes. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stayed away from the Dhuri bypoll despite AAP MP Bhagwant Singh Mann garnering a sizeable number of votes from this assembly constituency, part of the Sangrur parliamentary seat, in last year’s Lok Sabha polls. The SAD-BJP alliance had made a clean sweep in municipal elections held in February this year, winning more than 60% (1,260) of the total (2,044) wards in 121 local bodies.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, SAD won four and BJP got two. Congress got three seats. AAP sprung a surprise by clinching four seats.