Punjab seems to be bucking Modi wave, Cong leads in 8 seats

Punjab seems to be bucking the Modi wave with the Congress continuing to maintain the lead over eight of the state's 13 parliamentary constituencies.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was leading on just two seats, Ferozepur and Bathinda, where party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal are contesting, respectively, as per the Election Commission trends.

The BJP is ahead on two seats, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur. The Aam Aadmi Party, which had surprised many by winning four seats in the 2014 general election, is leading only on Sangrur seat, according to the trends.

The Congress is leading in Amritsar, Faridkot, Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar, Khadoor Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala seats.

Among these seats, the party candidates were maintaining a healthy margin in the range of 40,000 votes to 1 lakh votes on six constituencies -- Amritsar, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Ludhiana and Patiala.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife and Congress candidate, Preneet Kaur, is leading with a margin of more than 1 lakh votes against the SAD's Surjit Singh Rakhra and Nawan Punjab Party candidate Dharamvira Gandhi.

Ravneet Singh Bittu, the sitting Congress MP from Ludhiana, is ahead of his rival with margin of more than 64,000 votes.

Congress candidate Jasbir Singh Dimpa is leading by a margin of more than 1.16 lakh votes against SAD candidate and former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur in Khadoor Sahib seat.

In Amritsar, sitting Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla is leading by over 72,000 votes against Union minister and BJP candidate Hardeep Singh Puri.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal is leading by more than 1.6 lakh votes over the Congress' Sher Singh Ghubaya, who had been a two-time MP and quit the SAD before polls.

In Bathinda, an SAD bastion, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is leading by around 11,000 votes against Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

BJP candidate Sunny Deol, who is making his electoral debut, is leading by over 71,000 vote from Gurdaspur seat, against state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar. The Bollywood actor said he was confident that voters of his constituency would ensure his victory.

In Hoshiarpur seat, BJP candidate Som Prakash is leading by 40,000 votes over Congress candidate Raj Kumar Chabbewal.

Bhagwant Mann of the AAP is leading by more than 73,000 votes against Congress candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon in Sangrur.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while the SAD-BJP combine had won six seats, the AAP and the Congress had bagged four and three seats, respectively.