Captain Amarinder Singh leads Congress to power after a decade

It was a captain’s knock by Amarinder Singh as he led the Congress to power in Punjab after a decade, notwithstanding its dismal performance in subsequent elections across the country.

The Congress practically trounced its opposition, winning 77 out of 117 seats, leaving the SAD-BJP combine and AAP far behind. The results came as a birthday gift to Singh, the chief ministerial candidate, who turned 75 on Saturday, and had told voters that it will be his last election. AAP, which left no stone unturned to snatch power, finished second with 20 seats. Though the Akali Dal, by winning 15 seats, failed some exit polls, it came third.

“I am grateful to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and every other member of the Congress who have contributed to the exceptional electoral performance of the party,” Singh said.