All 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab are set to vote in the final phase of the general elections on May 19. Historically, the state has swung between the Indian National Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The SAD is a major ally and a senior partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. SAD and BJP will be contesting 10 and three seats, respectively. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Delhi, is contesting alone. Six parties — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Punjab Ekta Party, Lok Insaaf Party, Punjab Front and Revolutionary Marxist Party of India — have come together to form the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA). The alliance is contesting on all 13 seats. 2014 Lok Sabha polls In 2014, SAD and the BJP won six out of the 13 seats in the state. SAD won four of those six. While the Congress managed to perform better in Punjab than many of the other states in north India, it managed to win only three. This included the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency where Captain Amarinder Singh defeated senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley. AAP won the remaining four seats in the state. In terms of vote share, SAD and BJP picked up 26.4 percent and 8.8 percent votes respectively. Contesting in all 13 seats each, Congress and AAP secured vote shares of 33.2 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively. After the demise of BJP’s Gurdaspur Member of Parliament (MP) Vinod Khanna in 2017, the seat was clinched by Congress’ Sunil Jakhar in the bypoll. Since 2014 Less than three years after the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Amarinder Singh-led Congress won 77 out of the 117 seats in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. AAP finished second with 20 seats, while SAD and BJP bagged 15 and three seats respectively. Congress’ vote share was 38.8 percent followed by SAD’s 25.4 percent. AAP and BJP had a vote share of 23.9 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. Political observers suggest that Congress’ win was a result of the deep anti-incumbency against the two-term SAD government in the state. The anti-incumbency also helped AAP gain ground in the state. However, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has since shrunk, experts suggest. AAP has also seen defection of some of its MLAs. The discord between the MLAs in Punjab and the central leadership was out in the open when Kejriwal apologised to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia to settle a drug charge-related defamation case. In around two years since the state polls, AAP has fallen to having a marginal presence in most parts of the state, observers suggest. Many also believe that the party’s only chance in the general election is the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat where its sitting MP Bhagwant Mann is contesting from. Mann is the face of the AAP in Punjab. Also read: Opinion | Congress has to thank the opposition for its Punjab fortunes Issues Being a border state, the Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot airstrikes are likely to play on voters’ mind. The farm loan waiver issued by the Congress-led state government and the Kartarpur Corridor connecting Dera Baba Nanak shrine (India) and Kartarpur Gurdwara (Pakistan) are also expected to be key issues. Also read: Opinion | Lok Sabha Polls: Amarinder Singh has the Congress safely placed in Punjab Opinion polls Opinion surveys conducted and released before the first phase of polling suggested that the Congress was likely to win nine to 12 seats, with the rest going to the NDA and AAP. The surveys suggest that Punjab could be the only state in north India where the Congress has a lead over the BJP.<doc-sep>CHANDIGARH: As many as 278 candidates are left in the fray for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab where polling will be held on May 19, the last of the seven-phase general elections.The scrutiny of the nomination papers were held on April 30. Following that, 12 nominees withdrew their candidature on May 2, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, Punjab's chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said in a release here.While 30 candidates will fight it out in Amritsar Lok Sabha Seat, Hoshiarpur seat has the least eight contestants. Fifteen candidates are left in the fray in Gurdaspur seat.Prominent among the 278 candidates in the race include, BJP nominee and Bollywood actor Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal from Ferozepur, his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda, former union minister Preneet Kaur from Patiala, AAP's Bhagwant Mann from Sangrur and Congress' Manish Tewari from Anandpur Sahib seat.The chief electoral officer said of the total 2,07,81,211 voters in Punjab, 1,09,50735 are male and 98,29,916 are female, while 560 belong to the third gender.<doc-sep>Sunny Deol, BJP's candidate from Gurdaspur in Punjab at roadshow on Thursday Sunny Deol, the BJP's star candidate from Punjab's Gurdaspur, came under attack from a Congress candidate on Thursday. Congress leader and party candidate from Hoshiarpur, Raj Kumar Chabbewal, said the BJP could field "Sunny Deol or Sunny Leone" but no one could stop the "Congress wave" in Punjab. "The Narendra Modi government has failed miserably. They (BJP) can't find candidates even for three seats in Punjab. They have fielded Sunny Deol in Gurdaspur. The BJP can bring Sunny Deol or Sunny Leone but no one will be able to stand before this aandhi," Mr Chabbewal said, referring to the Gurdaspur Congress candidate and Sunny Deol's rival Sunil Jakhar. The Congress and the BJP have been sparring over the candidature of Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur. Sunil Jakhar, sitting Congress lawmaker, who is pitted against Sunny Deol, questioned the actor-turned-politician's knowledge about the constituency. Accusing Sunny Deol of a "lack of understanding" of the issues in Punjab, Sunil Jakhar challenged his opponent to share his vision for Gurdaspur. "Politics is serious business and not time-pass activity," the Punjab Congress chief said. "People are developing a perception about him that he is limited to cinema. Whenever he meets people and holds interactions with them, one will come to know about the real Sunny Deol," said Sunil Jakhar. Taking a dig at the actor's short speech at a BJP rally in Gurdaspur on Monday, when he filed his nomination, Sunil Jakhar said, "He did not give any speech and just uttered dialogues from his movies." The state BJP chief, Shwait Malik, hit out and dared the ruling Amarinder Singh government to show its report card. The BJP's newest recruit is the third member of his family to join politics after his father Dharmendra and stepmother Hema Malini. Welcoming him on board, the party recalled his patriotic movies. (With inputs from ANI & PTI)<doc-sep>Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder SIngh said that PM Narendra Modi-led central government has done nothing for Punjab since the time Congress government took over in the state. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said that Modi has no right to seek votes in Punjab as the central government has done nothing for the state. "PM Modi has no moral right to ask for votes in Punjab because he has done absolutely nothing for the state. He left the people to fend for themselves despite acute problems faced by them," Singh said. Speaking at a rally in support of Congress candidate Preneet Kaur in Pratap Nagar, the CM added, "The Modi government did nothing for Punjab or its people in the last two years since the Congress government took over in the state, despite repeated requests." Hitting out at the PM, Singh said: "Not only has the state gone ahead with its promised farm loan waiver scheme but had expanded the primary health insurance cover to 42 lakh families instead of the mere 14.96 lakh SECC families covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana." "The nation has seen how Modi has ruled in the past five years, destroying every institution and ruining all sections of the society with his ill-conceived policies, such as demonetisation and GST," he said. Reiterating the poll promises made by the Congress before the Assembly polls, Singh said: "Our government will fill up all the 1.2 lakh government vacancies that the Akalis had failed to fill. Industry and investment are being revived and the stage is set for disbursement of the promised smartphones to youth." Punjab, where 13 parliamentary seats are at stake, will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19. The counting will take place on May 23. Must read | Your one-stop guide to Lok Sabha Election 2019<doc-sep>
One of them flips burgers, the other rustles up noodles at a roadside joint. The two are among the 278 candidates who are trying their luck in the May 19 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. While 30-year-old Ravinder Pal Singh who owns the popular 'Baba Ji Burger Wale' is contesting from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, Jasbir Singh (55), owner of the famous 'Chacha Maggi Wala' is a contender from the Patiala parliamentary constituency. Both are fighting as independent candidates. "I decided to contest in order to raise awareness about the serious issue of growing cancer cases because of discharge of industrial effluents and chemicals into the 'Buddha nullah'," Ravinder Pal Singh, who has a burger joint at Model Town extension market in Ludhiana, told PTI. Churning out crispy burgers to his customers for the last 12 years, Ravinder Pal Singh said he was also concerned about the dilapidated condition of government schools and hospitals in the state. "I also want the condition of government hospitals and schools to be improved so that the common man has access to better education and healthcare facilities at a lesser cost," he said. "I have saved some money from my business which is being used for campaigning and I am getting a good response from people, he added. However, he claimed that "some people" do not want him to contest and were creating hurdles for him. "My business has taken a hit as some people have coerced some of my workers to desert me so I cannot campaign. They do not want me to contest polls," he claimed without taking any names. From Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, the Congress has fielded Ravneet Singh Bittu while the Shiromani Akali Dal's nominee is Maheshinder Singh Grewal. The Lok Insaaf Party has fielded Simarjeet Singh Bains and the Aam Aadmi Party's candidate is Tejpal Singh. Meanwhile, Jasbir Singh of 'Chacha Maggi Wala' said he wanted to raise his voice against the "corruption" in the state and the "injustice" meted out to the downtrodden. "I want to fight against corruption which you will find in every department," said Jasbir, who has built a loyal clientele courtesy his spicy version of the popular Maggi noodles that he sells near the Patiala bus stand. "They (officials) just want to extract money from you by hook or by crook," he added. Jasbir Singh had earlier contested the 2017 Punjab assembly polls from Patiala rural seat but had lost. From the Patiala parliamentary seat, the Congress has fielded former Union minister Preneet Kaur while the Akalis have fielded Surjit Singh Rakhra. The candidates of the AAP and the Nawan Punjab Party are Neena Mittal and Dharamvira Gandhi respectively. As many as 278 candidates are in the fray for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab where polling will be held on May 19, the last of the seven-phase general elections.