After a thanksgiving visit at the Golden Temple on Wednesday, the father-son duo of Parkash Singh Badal and Sukbir Badal will be in Chandigarh today to hold a meeting with their Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLAs. On Friday, they are expected to hold a joint meeting with leaders of its ally in Punjab , the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after which the the alliance is expected to stake claim for government formation.
So far, all reports suggest that Parkash Singh Badal will continue to be the Chief Minister of Punjab, unless he steps down on his own.
The SAD-BJP alliance created history in Punjab on Tuesday by storming back to power for a second consecutive term, breaking a 40-year-old jinx of the state.
Bucking the anti-incumbency trend, the SAD won 56 seats while its alliance partner BJP got 12 seats, taking the combine's tally to 68 in the 117-member Assembly.
The Congress, which was banking on anti-incumbency factor to ride to power, won only 46 seats, only marginally higher than the 42 it got last time. Three others were won by independents.
SAD rebel Manpreet Singh Badal's PPP failed to open its account with the four-time MLA also losing from Gidderba and Maur.
An ecstatic Parkash Singh Badal, who is all set to don the Chief Minister's mantle for a record fifth time, termed it as a vote for "peace and development".