Punjab Election final seats 2017
Out of 117 seats
Congress won 77 seats
AAP won 22 seats
And SAD+ won 18 seats.
The last State Legislative assembly elections were held in Punjab in 2012, in which Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) was able to form a government in alliance with Bharatiya Janata party(BJP). However, in the last few years the Akali government has been facing lot of issue, including Drugs. The people blame the government for ruining the economy of Punjab and doing nothing for farmers and youth. In addition to this, the state has also earned bad name for drug peddling and drug use. However, the term of the present government is coming to an end by March, 2017.
The election for the year 2017 was held on February 4th, 2017 in 117 constituencies. It has already created speculations and all the major contestants are keeping their finger crossed for the results. Though it was triangular contest between, Congress, BJP and Aam Aadhmi Party, many poll surveys have suggested that, it is a direct contest between Congress and Aam Aadhmi Party. Aam Aadhmi Party is contesting in Punjab for the first time. In this election, only 74% of people have voted and there were 1145 candidates contesting.
Previously, it was thought that it would be a direct fight between SAD and Congress party. However, the entry of AAP has changed the game. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has extensively campaigned for the 2017 elections. In addition to this, Navjot Singh Siddhu, a cricketer turned politician made headlines before election, since many rumours raised that he will be joining AAP, but finally he chose Congress over AAP.
Date of Election: February 4, 2017
Date of Result: March 11, 2017
Opinion Poll By VDP Associates:
As per VDP Associates, AAP has bright future in winning the elections, due to their agenda. Meanwhile, Congress is not gaining so much support due to the corruption charges and people lost hope in BJP, since in the last term they did not perform spectacularly and also did not bring any reform.
| Political Party | Expected Seats |
| Aam AadhmiParty | 93 |
| Indian National Congress | 15 |
| Others | 3 |
| NDA | 6 |
Opinion Poll By India Today-Axis
India Today-Axis survey suggests that Congress may have a chance of winning the 2017 elections. Although, they are interested in seeing with which party Congress will be forming an alliance with, since that will not be including both BJP or AAP.
| Political Party | Expected Seats |
| BJP+SAD | 17-21 |
| Indian National Congress | 49-55 |
| AAP | 42-46 |
| Others | 3-7 |
Conclusion:
Only Congress has declared their Chief Ministerial candidate as Captain Amarinder Singh. The other two parties are yet to announce their CM candidate. 2017 poll will be the deciding poll for Congress, since they have been losing in most of their constituencies. This will be a deciding poll and if they win it will be a deciding term for Congress to gain the trust again from people.
