The contest between the Congress and the NDA for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Chandigarh seems evenly poised.
The contest between the Congress and the NDA for Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Chandigarh seems evenly poised. Both combines have a strong chance in the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the region.
Polling for nine seats in Punjab, four in Himachal and one in Chandigarh takes place on Wednesday. Ten seats in Haryana and four in Punjab went to the polls on May 7.
If the Congress makes big gains in Punjab, these would be neutralised by setbacks in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. In Punjab, the party is poised to improve on its 2004 tally of 2 seats. In Haryana, the Congress already has nine of the 10 seats in its kitty. The number would trickle down to five or six, say political observers. In Himachal, its tally is likely to come down from three to one.
In Chandigarh, the Congress appears to be in a slightly advantageous position. With BSP candidate Harmohan Dhawan playing a critical role, it is slated to be a neck-and-neck contest between sitting Congress nominee Pawan Kumar Bansal and BJP candidate Satya Pal Jain.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab that is fighting a strong anti-incumbency, has its back to the wall. Inspite of a series of rallies by LK Advani, Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley and Sunday’s show of strength by the NDA in Ludhiana, the Badal government’s performance will most likely pull the alliance down.
In Haryana, the Congress will most likely bag five to six seats while the remaining four are expected to be shared between the BJP, the BSP, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Haryana Janhit Party.
There’s no anti-incumbency In Himachal Pradesh, yet the ruling BJP is fighting a tough battle with the Congress.
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