:dateline:Defying the �Modi wave�, Punjab emerged as the saving grace for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. With four of the state�s 13 seats and over 24% vote share, it is the best performance ever by any non-Congress and non SAD-BJP party in Punjab. �Although the party is new, it firmly established�itself as a formidable 3rd political alternative in the historically bipolar politics of the border state.
Aam Aadmi Party outdid even Congress party who could secure only three seats and equated itself with SAD who also bagged four seats. Though together with ally BJP, which contested three seats, the SAD secured 35% vote share, the AAP was just below SAD�s individual 26%. In the seat tally, the AAP was on a par with the SAD�four each. As for Congress, despite 33% vote share, it was pushed to third slot and a tally of just three.
In addition to bagging four seats�Sangrur (Bhagwant Mann), Patiala (Dr. Dharam Vira Gandhi), Fatehgarh Sahib (Harinder Singh Khalsa), Fridkot (Prof. Sadhu Singh), the AAP stood second in Ludhiana and third in eight constituencies�Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Bathinda, Ferozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Khadur Sahib.
At only two places, it got less than one lakh votes. It is noteworthy that the Party ate into the anti-incumbency votes that would have gone to the Congress and also into Panthik agenda and rural votes of SAD, besides the urban votes of BJP. However, it cut more votes of Congress than that of SAD-BJP.
With no cadre or big political names, Kejriwal�s party relied on volunteers and fielded rank newcomers on a majority of seats, choosing from among doctors, retired officers, lawyers, professors etc.
The AAP�s impact was further underlined by the fact that the highest victory margin in the state was secured by its Sangrur candidate Bhagwant Mann, who got around 5.4 lakh (533,237) votes and defeated SAD candidate Sukhdev Dhindsa by around 2 Lakh votes.
