Punjab election results 2022: AAP won92 seats and Congress 18 out of total 117 seats.
Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) pulled off a spectacular victory in the Punjab assembly elections. Final results declared by the Election Commission of India give the party an unassailable lead, as predicted by all exit polls earlier. In what was earlier being seen as a fierce multi-cornered fight, Congress has been dislodged to second place, losing over half its vote share, and Akalis in single digits as well. All political heavyweights contesting against AAP have lost.
AAP won 92 seats and Congress 18 out of total 117 seats. Akalis are at 3 and BJP managed 2.
"This shows AAP is the natural and national replacement of the Congress," said Raghav Chadha, who ran the Punjab campaign for his party, in an exclusive interview with NDTV.
Addressing supporters and the media, Mr Chadda quipped, "We asked the people of Punjab to sweep with the broom (AAP's election symbol), they started the vacuum cleaner instead,".
All major players against AAP including Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Shiromani Akali Dal's Bikram Singh Majithia, Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir Singh Badal, and former Chief Minister and Punjab Lok Congress chief Amarinder Singh are currently trailing in their seats. Mr Channi is trailing on both the seats he contested.
Responding to questions about the failure of Congress's Punjab gamble - replacing Amarinder Singh with Mr Channi as Chief Minister - senior leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the party had taken "strong, maybe unpleasant decisions".
Another Congress leader, Shama Mohammad, said: "In Punjab, it is our own doing. We could have held on, but we went wrong."
AAP's Raghav Chadha has claimed that his party is now the "national and natural replacement of the Congress."
"The people of Punjab have seen the Kejriwal model of governance and they want to try it out. For five decades, those who have kept the people of Punjab without the amenities they deserve and those who thought they would rule forever have now been thrown out. The people decided to teach them a lesson," said Mr Chaddha, who famously sang AAP's campaign song "Ik Mauka Kejriwal Nu (give Kejriwal a chance)".
Bhagwant Mann, who is now sure to be Chief Minister of the state, had yesterday told NDTV that it won't go into his head if he becomes the Chief Minister. "Fame has always been part of my life," he said.
Vowing to give people back the "old Punjab", he said "We will make Punjab Punjab again. No need to turn it into Paris, London, or California. It was their (other parties) dreams, and they are losing," he added.