As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a historic win in Punjab Assembly polls by winning a three-fourths majority with 92 seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated the party and assured all possible support from the Centre for the state's welfare.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "I would like to congratulate AAP for their victory in the Punjab elections. I assure all possible support from the Centre for Punjab's welfare."
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party has retained power in four states- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur.
Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann has won from Sangrur district's Dhuri assembly constituency by a margin of 58,206 votes over Congress' Dalvir Singh Goldy. He announced that his oath-taking ceremony will be held at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
It is AAP's maiden victory in the state and a vast improvement from its performance in the 2017 elections when it had finished second behind Congress.
The ruling Congress managed to secure 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with two. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has bagged three seats and Bahujan Samaj Party has won only one.
Punjab witnessed a multi-cornered contest with key players being Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) led by SS Dhindsa.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member House whereas Shiromani Akali Dal could win only 15 seats, BJP netted three and independent candidates won two seats. On the other hand, AAP emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats.
In 1987, Congress won 87 seats. 1977, Shiromani Akali Dal won the maximum number of seats - 59 while in 1997, it won 75 seats.
The polling in Punjab took place on February 20 on 117 assembly seats.
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