There was a strong anti-government sentiment in the state which led to the downfall of the Congress candidate.
There was a strong anti-government sentiment in the state which led to the downfall of the Congress candidate.
The elevation of Charanjit Singh Channi to the post of chief minister, which many saw as a direct result of internal rivalry in the Congress, failed to help the party retain the state. Most voters in Punjab rated his six-month term in the negative. However, his predecessor Amarinder Singh’s tenure was rated worse and it seems that Mr Channi may have actually helped the Congress recover a bit in his short stint as chief minister.
to cause dissatisfaction
Comparing the two governments, eight out of every 10 voters were found to be dissatisfied with the four-and-a-half years of the Captain Singh-led Congress government, with the anger waning after Mr Channi took over. Dissatisfaction remained strong, with one in every two unhappy with Mr. Channi’s government (Table 1).
Indicating a strong anti-government sentiment in the state, over half (51%) voters and nearly a third (30%) of traditional Congress supporters were angry with both Captain Singh and Mr Channi. Of every 10 traditional Congress supporters who were satisfied with the performance of Mr Channi and not Captain Singh, only three-fifths (59%) voted for the Congress, while a quarter voted for the AAP.
Anger against the governments of both Mr. Channi and Captain Amarinder was highest in Malwa, which was almost completely decimated by the Aam Aadmi Party, with more than three-fifths of voters (61%) registering their discontent. In Majha and Doaba, four out of 10 each and three out of 10 each registered their discontent against the two Congress chief ministers.
However, the Congress’s decision to project Mr Channi as the chief ministerial candidate was largely accepted by the voters of Punjab. While close to half the voters (47%) felt that the Congress did the right thing by choosing Mr Channi over the others, almost a quarter (24%) held the opposite view. Looking only at traditional Congress supporters, the decision to project Mr Channi was appreciated by more than two-thirds (71%) of the people, and yet it did not translate into much votes.
too little too late
Soon after taking over as Chief Minister, Mr Channi announced several populist measures to counter AAP’s popularity. However, the post-poll data shows that although it somewhat quelled people’s anger towards the Congress, it was too late. Moreover, during Mr. Channi’s short window, his government could not even reach a third of the households in the state. Even among them, they still lagged behind AAP by a considerable margin (Table 2).
Manjesh Rana is Research Associate at Lokniti-CSDS. Varun Goel is Assistant Professor at LRDAV College in Jagraon, Punjab