June 4 (Punjab Khabarnama) : The Congress took an early lead in Punjab on Tuesday, going ahead in seven of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the border state followed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in three, Independents in two and the Shiromani Akali Dal in one.
The Congress, which won eight seats in 2019, was leading in Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala constituencies, according to Election Commission trends at 11.30am.
The AAP candidates were leading in Anandpur Sahib, Hoshiarpur and Sangrur. The SAD was ahead in Bathinda, while two Independents took the lead in Khadoor Sahib and Faridkot.
Among the candidates, former chief minister Charanjit Channi of the Congress was leading his nearest rival, BJP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku, by 78,981 votes in Jalandhar, while former deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was ahead of Dinesh Babbu of the BJP in Gurdaspur by 15,581 votes.
In Ludhiana, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was leading against BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu by 4,200 votes.
In Patiala and Ferozepur, Congress candidates Dr Dharamvir Gandhi and Sher Singh Ghubaya were locked in close battles with their rivals.
In Sangrur, AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who is a minister in the Bhagwant Mann government, also took an early lead over sitting MP Simranjit Singh Mann and Sukhpal Khaira of the Congress.
In Khadoor Sahib and Faridkot, jailed radical Sikh leader Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the son of former Prime Minister India Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, were leading.