Chandigarh: The Congress party has made a significant impact in Punjab’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections, securing key victories in the Malwa, Majha, and Doaba regions. The party won a total of seven seats, establishing itself as a formidable force in the state.
In the politically influential Malwa region, Congress won four crucial seats: Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Patiala, according to the Election Commission data. These victories are particularly noteworthy as the party retained its stronghold in Ludhiana and Patiala, despite tough competition from BJP candidates Ravneet Singh Bittu and Preneet Kaur, both of whom were former Congress members.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also performed well in Malwa, winning two seats — Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) managed to secure the Bathinda seat. Additionally, independent candidate Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of one of the assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, won from the Faridkot reserve constituency.
Malwa remains the most significant and politically influential region in Punjab, with eight parliamentary seats and 69 of the state’s 117 assembly constituencies.
In the Doaba region, Congress celebrated a victory in the Jalandhar reserve constituency, where former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi defeated BJP’s Sushil Rinku by a margin of 1.75 lakh votes. AAP captured the Hoshiarpur reserve seat, overcoming the BJP, which had considered Hoshiarpur a stronghold. AAP candidate Raj Kumar Chabbewal defeated Congress’s Yamini Gomar in this constituency. The Doaba region is known for its sizable Scheduled Caste community population.
In the Majha region, Congress secured two seats, winning in Amritsar and Gurdaspur. Meanwhile, AAP won three seats, and SAD managed to secure one. The BJP failed to win any seats in the border state of Punjab.
Reflecting on the 2019 elections, Congress had won eight out of 13 Lok Sabha seats. The SAD and BJP, then allies, won two seats each, while AAP secured the Sangrur seat. Following bypolls in Sangrur and Jalandhar in 2022 and 2023, Congress was left with seven seats, SAD and BJP had two each, and AAP and SAD (Amritsar) held one seat each.
