Punjab Lok Sabha Elections Result 2024: SAD Fails To Improve Wins 1 Seat

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which went solo within the Lok Sabha elections for the primary time since 1996, gained just one out of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the spouse of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, retained the Bathinda parliamentary constituency, by a margin of 49,656 votes over her nearest rival and AAP candidate Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.

The Bathinda parliamentary constituency is taken into account as a stronghold of the SDA with Harsimrat profitable this seat since 2009.

Seen as a litmus check of the SAD, the celebration didn’t carry out up to speed as its candidates had been positioned in third or fourth place in a majority of the constituencies.

Before parting methods with the BJP in 2020 over the now-repealed farm legal guidelines, the SAD and the BJP used to contest elections in alliance.

The 2024 elections got here as one of many hardest challenges for Badal as his 103-year-old outfit was searching for to achieve its misplaced political floor within the state. Badal was additionally steering the celebration with out his father, Akali stalwart and five-time chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who died final 12 months.

During ballot campaigning, Sukhbir referred to as the SAD the one regional outfit preventing to safeguard the pursuits of Punjab and in addition the voice of “qaum” (neighborhood).

The former deputy chief minister relied on growth works carried out through the erstwhile Akali regime, resembling constructing of highway community, establishing of thermal crops, and so forth.

Before the Lok Sabha polls, Sukhbir managed to persuade veteran Akali chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa and former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Bibi Jagir Kaur to return to the celebration fold.

Good efficiency within the elections for the SAD was essential because the Badal-led outfit’s efficiency within the final parliamentary elections was additionally disappointing.

The SAD had gained eight seats in 2004 after which 4 seats every within the 2009 and 2014 elections. However, its efficiency additional dipped in 2019 when it might safe simply two seats.

Its vote share dropped from 34.3 per cent in 2004 to 27.45 per cent in 2019.