The Election Commission on Monday deferred Punjab elections 2022 by a week to February 20 in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti which falls on February 16, two days after the original polling date.
The Election Commission postponed the polls, originally scheduled for February 14, after the state government and several political parties urged it to do so as lakhs of followers of Guru Ravidas travel to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the day.
The parties had said that several followers of Guru Ravidas would not be able to exercise their franchise on February 14 as they would be travelling.
The new date coincides with the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh.
The Punjab election results 2022 will be declared on March 10 (Thursday) when counting of votes in the state takes place along with four other poll-bound states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The build-up to the Punjab elections has been heating up since 2020 when thousands of farmers marched from the state to Delhi’s borders demanding a rollback of the three farm laws they alleged to favour corporates over farmers.
They camped at the national capital’s borders for more than a year before the Centre repealed the laws in Parliament.
The farmers may have returned to their homes but the saga will likely echo in the upcoming elections, twists and turns in the fortunes of the ruling Congress, BJP-Amarinder Singh alliance and an upbeat Aam Aadmi Party making the race too-close-to-call yet.
NUMBERS IN PUNJAB ASSEMBLY
The Punjab Assembly has a total of 117 seats, with 59 being the majority mark.
The 117 constituencies in Punjab are spread over three regions – Majha (25 constituencies), Doaba (23) and Malwa (69).
In the 2017 Punjab elections, the Congress has come to power with 77 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delivered a surprising 20 seats.
Ousted from power, the Shiromani Akali Dal won 15 seats and its then alliance partner, the BJP, won three. The tenure of the current Punjab Assembly ends on March 27, 2022.
