Amarinder Singh, one of the tallest leaders of Punjab and former chief minister, has lost the elections from Patiala (urban), his home constituency. The 78-year-old leader renounced the chief minister’s seat after a major tiff with Navjot Singh Sidhu and the wider Congress leadership last year and then decided to start his own party — the Punjab Lok Congress. 

Amarinder Singh, one of
the tallest leaders of Punjab and former two-time chief minister, has lost the
elections from Patiala (urban), his home constituency. The 78-year-old leader
renounced the chief minister’s seat after a major tiff with Navjot Singh Sidhu
and the wider Congress leadership last year and then decided to start his own
party – the Punjab Lok Congress. The Punjab Lok Congress contested the 2022
Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with the BJP.

Amarinder Singh was
defeated by Aam Aadmi Party’s Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. According to the Election
Commission website, Ajit Singh Kohli leads with 48,104 votes, 46.49%. The second
place went to Amarinder Singh with 28,231 votes (27.28%). The third place has gone
to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with 11,835 votes (11.44%). Congress came fourth
with 9,871 votes (9.54%).

The captain’s defeat,
according to the Congress, proves the party’s point that Singh was facing
anti-incumbency in Punjab. Congress effectively forced Singh to resign in
September last year responding to feedback from Punjab leaders that Singh was
not accessible to other members of the party leadership.

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Amarinder Singh was
widely believed to have been on good terms with effective Congress supremo
Sonia Gandhi. Therefore, his near dismissal and eventual departure from the
party meant a veteran Congressman and a shrewd political mind leaving. While
the Congress is taking solace from the fact that Amarinder lost on his home
turf, the party itself has been decimated in the state.

Results, as of 2 pm
Thursday, show the Congress leading in 17 out of 117 seats. This indicates a
drop of 60 seats from what the Congress scored in 2017 when it swept to power
beating the Modi wave with 77 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Bhagwant Mann
in Punjab who is set to be the next chief minister, is currently leading in 90
seats.