Shifting sands

BAGGING seven of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, the Congress has made a comeback in the state after the debacle in the 2022 Assembly polls, even as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has managed to win three seats. The overall picture suggests a fragmented yet vibrant polity. The SAD has won just one seat, claimed by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, while the BJP has drawn a blank, even as Punjab’s farmers continue to be at loggerheads with the Centre. By electing independent candidates Amritpal Singh (the jailed chief of Waris Punjab De) and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa (son of an assassin of Indira Gandhi), who have made their presence felt as radicals, voters of Khadoor Sahib and Faridkot have sent out a firm message to the powers that be: it would not brook alleged injustice with the sons of Punjab who have been languishing in jails and that the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom remains a flashpoint in the absence of closure that can be ensured only by punishing the guilty. The mandate does not necessarily mean that people are backing separatism.

Meanwhile, Haryana has thrown up a mixed outcome, with the Congress clawing back into political prominence by winning half of the 10 LS seats and the ruling BJP settling for the rest, nowhere near the clean sweep of 2019. It reflects anti-incumbency and the BJP’s failure to address the burning issues of inflation and joblessness.

Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a saffron sweep as the BJP won all four seats, even as the Congress wrested the Chandigarh seat from the BJP with a slender margin.