The India Today group released its Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey results which has brought shocking results to the fore. According to the survey, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress stand to win 5 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab with BJP trailing behind with just 2. Shiromani Akali Dal was projected to win just 1 seat in the 2024 elections. This is quite a leap from previous Lok Sabha elections where AAP only won 1 seat. AAP managed to snag power from Congress in the assembly elections and are apparently projected to earn a considerable victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
Amid the rumors of the Congress-AAP alliance, even contesting the elections on their own is likely to bear fruits for AAP according to the vote share percentage. AAP is getting 27.2% of the votes while Congress is projected to get 37.6% of the votes. Interestingly, only 7.38% of the voters expressed their trust in AAP in the 2019 elections. With these statistics, if an alliance between the two parties did occur, it could result in a clean sweep victory for these two.
On the contrary, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) seems to be getting the short end of the stick this election. While the party had the trust of 27.45% of voters in 2019, this year’s survey revealed that they are likely to get only 14.4% of the votes. BJP, who contested the 2019 elections in alliance with the SAD, doesn’t have much to be celebrating or lamenting about this year. BJP’s hope for an impact in the state has more or less relied on SAD’s influence. However due to various issues including corruption allegations on the Badal family, SAD has lost the trust of the voters and is losing ground in the state.
But despite this, BJP is projected to see an increase of about 8% in voters as compared to 2019. In 2019, the grand old party received 9.63% votes, whereas this time it is likely to get 16.9% votes. Although figures suggest a resounding victory for either Congress or AAP, the situation could change if BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal decide to join hands once again with both benefitting from the alliance according to experts. However if Congress-AAP decide to enter coalition, then that could result in a clean sweep victory for the alliance in Punjab.
But the coalition is unlikely to occur as Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann had announced that AAP will contest the elections alone as there are no visible benefits for the party in joining an alliance rather than going at it alone. Akali Dal contesting the elections alone puts it on the backpedal with BJP just being a silent spectator to the chaos.