Congress formed govt in Punjab with 35.81 pc in 2002 votes

Chandigarh, Jan 20 (UNI) The Congress secured just 35.81 per cent votes the 2002 Punjab assembly elections to form the government in the state Punjab.

In comparison, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) got 31.08 per cent votes, to hand over the reins of power to the Congress.

In the last polls, the Congress contested 105 of the 117 seats, while the SAD and its electoral ally, BJP put up candidates for 115 seats. SAD contested 92 seats and won 41 while the BJP could win just three of the 23 it had contested. Another ally of SAD, the Bahujan Samaj Morcha (BSM) put up nominees for two seats and lost both.

The Congress won 62 seats it contested in the last elections and later it won three more seats through by-elections. Two CPI MLAs who had won with the support of the Congress later joined the ruling party.

In the current polls, the Congress is contesting all the 117 seats and has so far announced the names of 114 nominees. On the other hand, SAD has announced the names of its candidates for the all the 94 seats it will be contesting. The BJP has announced the names for 21 of the 23 seats it is contesting.

In the 2002 polls, three Congress nominees had lost their security deposits including its nominee from Ajnala, Mr Ravi Randhawa who polled the lowest number of votes amongst all Congress candidates. Two candidates of SAD and one of the BJP too lost their security deposits. Both the nominees of BSM including its chief Satnam Kainth lost their securities.

The CPI put up candidates for 11 seats in alliance with the Congress and won two seats. However, both the victorious candidates later crossed over to the ruling party. The CPI secured a mere 2.15 per cent of the votes polled in 2002, with five of its candidates forfeiting their securities.

The CPM had contested 13 seats, with all its candidates losing their security deposits. The party got a mere 0.36 per cent votes, which was even below the percentage secured by the Punjab CPM, a breakaway faction headed by Mr Mangat Ram Pasla.

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