The Malwa region holds 69 of the 117 seats, and all contenders are going the whole hog
Of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly, 69 lie in the crucial Malwa belt of the State, districts where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) drew much of its support during 2014 general elections.
The AAP is strong in the districts of Bhatinda, Faridkot, Sangrur, Mandsa and Barnala. The Congress’ strongholds have been Fazilka, Muktsar, Patiala (Captain Amarinder Singh’s other constituency), Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana. AAP’s star campaigner Bhagwant Mann is an MP from Sangrur and is challenging Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal from Jalalabad.
In addition, all major players — Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Bhagwant Singh Mann of the AAP — are contesting seats in the region.
Last week, Capt. Amarinder Singh filed nomination papers from Lambi, Mr. Badal’s constituency, not just to respond to the AAP’s charge that the Akali Dal and the Congress were part of an old system of mutually colluding political parties, which would not take action on each other’s acts of omission and commission once elected, but also to energise the campaign for seats in Malwa.
“I filed nomination papers from Lambi as I feel our intensifying campaign there would affect the surrounding seats,” Captain Singh had told
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