Chandigarh, February 1: The voting for Punjab Assembly Elections 2022 will take place in a single phase on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10, and on the same day, the results will be declared. Unlike previous elections, this time, the state will witness a four-cornered contest between the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) alliance and the Shrimoni Akali Dal (SAD) – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: A Look Back at The Polling, Alliances And Results of 2017 Election Ahead of Vidhan Sabha Polls.

The last date of scrutiny of papers is February 2. There are a total of 117 assembly seats in Punjab. All eyes will be on a fierce poll battle between Bikram Singh Majithia and Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar East. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former CM Amarinder Singh, SAD Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal, AAP CM candidate Bhagwant Singh Mann filed their nomination papers for the Punjab Vidhaan Sabha polls. Punjab Assembly Elections 2022 Dates And Full Schedule: Voting on February 20, Counting And Results on March 10.

Here Are Seven Key Constituencies:

Amritsar East: The constituency will witness a tough electoral battle between the two arch-rivals – Sidhu and Majithia. Notably, the Punjab Congress chief had dared Majithia to contest only from Amritsar East, leaving his home turf, Majitha. Notably, Majithia is a three-time MLA from Majitha. His wife Ganieve Kaur will now contest from Majitha.

Patiala Urban: Former Congressman and ex-Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh is contesting the polls from his stronghold Patiala Urban. The Congress has fielded former mayor Vishnu Sharma, while the AAP has also given the ticket to the ex-mayor of the city, Ajitpal Singh Kohli. Captain Singh is contesting from the constituency for the fifth time.

Chamkaur Sahib: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is contesting from the Chamkaur Sahib assembly constituency. The APP has fielded Charanjit Singh, while the BJP has given the ticket to Darshan Singh Shivjot from the constituency. Channi is also contesting from the Bhadaur assembly seat.

Dhuri: AAP’s CM candidate Bhagwant Mann is contesting the assembly polls from Dhuri. He will be contesting against sitting Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy, SAD-BSP candidate Parkash Chand Garg, and BJP candidate Randeep Singh Deol.

Jalalabad: SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal is contesting from the Jalalabad assembly constituency. In the 2012 and 2017 elections, also Sukhbir won the elections from the constituency. However, he resigned in 2019 after he won the Lok Sabha elections from Ferozepur. Congress fielded Mohan Singh Phallianwala from this constituency.

Lambi: Former Punjab CM and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal is contesting from the Lambi assembly constituency. Parkash Singh is the five-time MLA from Lambi Vidhan Sabha seat. At 94 years, the 11-time MLA is the oldest candidate to contest polls. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian of the Aam Aadmi Party, Jagpal Singh Khurana of the Congress and Rakesh Dhingra of the BJP are contesting against Parkash Singh.

Majitha: Bikram Singh Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur is contesting from the Majitha assembly seat as the three time-MLA from has decided to contest against the Punjab Congress Chief. Congress fielded Jagwinder Pal Singh from the constituency.

Earlier, the state assembly elections were scheduled to take place on February 14. However, the Election Commission of India postponed the polling date to February 20 at the request of political parties in view of Ravidas Jayanti celebrations.

In the 2017 elections, the Congress bagged 77 seats, while the SAD won 15 seats. The AAP emerged as the second-largest party. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party remained victorious on 20 seats. The BJP bagged only three seats, and the Lok Insaaf Party won two seats. Captain Amarinder Singh became the chief minister of the state for the second time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2022 06:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).