Riding a strong anti-incumbency wave, opposition Congress in Punjab on Saturday won six of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state humbling ruling Shiromani Akali Dal which could manage just three.
Declaration of results of remaining four constituencies was held up due to technical snags in Electronic Voting Machines. Congress won Fatehgarh Sahab, Jalandhar (SC), Patiala, Sangrur, Anandpur Sahab and Ludhiana Lok Sabha seats while SAD romped home in Faridkot, Khadoor Sahab and Bathinda seats.
The declaration of results of four constituencies of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Ferozepur was held up due to technical snags in the EVMs. Adding to the woe of SAD, its candidate and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal suffered defeat in Fatehgarh Sahab losing to Sukhdev Singh Libra of Congress by a margin of 34,299 votes.
Punjab Congress President Mohinder Singh Kaypee won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat defeating singer-politician Hans Raj Hans of SAD by a margin of 36,445 votes. Preneet Kaur, wife of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh retained Patiala Lok Sabha seat for the third time in a row defeating Prem Singh Chandumajra of SAD by a margin of 97,389 votes.
However, the couple's son Raninder lost in Bathinda with Harsimrat Kaur, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, winning by a margin of 1,20,948 votes.
Harsimrat would make her maiden entry to the Lok Sabha.
Buyoed by the party's impressive show, Amarinder Singh said the result showed the people of Punjab have "rejected" SAD. Former Union Minister and senior SAD leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa failed to retain the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat. Dhindsa lost to Vijay Inder Singla of the Congress by 40,872 votes.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari won Ludhiana seat by a margin of 1,13,706 votes against his nearest rival Gurcharan Singh Ghalib of SAD.
Paramjit Kaur Gulshan won the Faridkot (SC) seat defeating her nearest rival Sukhvinder Singh Danny of the Congress by 62,042 votes. Gulshan had won in 2004 from Bathinda but this time she had to shift the constituency as Bathinda became a general constituency following delimitation.
Rattan Singh Ajnala of SAD was elected from Khadoor Sahab defeating his nearest rival Rana Gurjeet Singh of Congress by 32,260 votes. Earlier the constituency was known as Tarn Taran. Rana Gurjeet had won in 2004 from Jalandhar but this time had to shift constituency as Jalandhar was made a reserved constituency following delimitation. Ravneet Singh Bittu of the Congress won Anandpur Sahab seat by a margin of 67,629 votes defeating his nearest rival Daljit Cheema of SAD.
