Although the BJP could not win even a single seat in Punjab in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, its vote share of 18.5 percent is its highest ever, with or without an alliance partner. Its candidates came first in as many as 24 Assembly segments in the Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Ferozepur and Patiala constituencies.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. The Congress won seven of the 13 seats in Punjab this time while the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won three and one each. Two Independents won the other two seats.
Patiala
Although the BJP’s Patiala candidate Preneet Kaur finished third, she got the most votes (37,340) in the Rajpura Assembly constituency, which remained a hotbed of farmers’ protests. Even though farmers are currently protesting at the Shambhu border, which is about 20 km away from Rajpura, this constituency has remained a regular center of farmer activities.
She led in the Dera Bassi Assembly constituency by a margin of 9,121 votes and in Patiala city with a margin of 18,513 votes.
Dr Dharamvira Gandhi of the Congress won in Patiala by a margin of 14,831 against Aam Aadmi Party’s Balbir Singh.
Ludhiana
In Ludhiana, the BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu led in the urban Assembly segments of Ludhiana East, Ludhiana South, Ludhiana Central, Ludhiana West and Ludhiana North Assembly segments with a margin of 9,537, 4,396, 17,295, 14,535 and 22,310 votes, respectively. However, Bittu faced a rout in rural areas as he lost to Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring by 20,942 votes.
Ferozepur
In Ferozepur, the BJP’s Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi finished third but led in the Abohar Assembly constituency by a margin of 32,526 votes. He also led in the Balluana Assembly constituency by a margin of 16,082 votes.
In Ferozepur city, the lead was only 390 votes. BJP state president Sunil Jakhar hails from Abohar and Balluana, which are predominantly rural constituencies dominated by Hindi-speaking people due to their proximity to the Rajasthan and Haryana border. Previously, during the alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP used to contest from Abohar, Fazilka, and Ferozepur constituencies. However, the BJP lagged behind in Fazilka.
Sher Singh Ghubaya of Congress won in Ferozepur by 3,242 votes against AAP’s Jagdeep Singh Brar.
Jalandhar
The BJP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku lost in Jalandhar by a huge margin of 1.75 lakh votes to the Congress’s Charanjit Singh Channi. But he led in the Jalandhar Central Assembly segment by 3,733 votes and in Jalandhar North by 5,986 votes. Rinku got around 2.13 lakh votes in total.
Amritsar
The BJP’s Taranjit Singh Sandhu Samundri finished third in Amritsar. However, he led in the urban assembly segments of Amritsar North by 18,684 votes, Amritsar Central by 10,694 votes, and Amritsar East by 1,195 votes. All of these constituencies are urban. The BJP had been contesting from these seats even before ending ties with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The Congress’s Gurjeet Singh Aulja won in Amritsar while the AAP’s Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal came second.
Hoshiarpur
Anita Somparkash of the BJP finished third with 1.99 lakh votes. She obtained a lead of 11,074 votes from Mukerian and 4,043 votes from Hoshiarpur Assembly seats while her lead from the Hoshiarpur assembly segment was 1,707 votes. Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal of the AAP won in Hoshiarpur with a margin of 44,111 votes over Yamini Gomar of the Congress.
Bathinda
Parampal Kaur Sidhu of the BJP, who finished fourth in Bathinda, got a lead of 518 votes in the Bathinda Urban Assembly segment in a surprisingly good show in the deep pockets of Malwa. Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the SAD won in Bathinda, while Gurmeet Singh Khudian and Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu of the AAP and the Congress came second and third, respectively. Parampal got 1,10,762 votes in total.
Gurdaspur
The BJP’s Dinesh Singh Babbu came second in this seat but led in the Sujanpur Assembly segment by 26,781 votes, Bhoa by 12,816 votes, and Pathankot by 21,454 votes. Interestingly, he fell behind in the Batala constituency, which is a Hindu-dominated area.
Despite talks of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, the BJP candidate received only 5,981 votes from Dera Baba Nanak, the closest segment to the corridor. Fatehgarh Churian is another segment where the party candidate received only 6,973 votes, even though the party’s senior leader, Fateh Jung Bajwa, hails from there. Bajwa’s brother, Partap Singh Bajwa, is the Congress MLA and the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab assembly.
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of the Congress won in Gurdaspur with a margin of over 82,000 votes.