Punjab bypolls: stakes high for Patiala royal family, Akalis

Stakes are high for the royal family of Patiala and the ruling Akalis as the results of the bypolls to Patiala and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats in Punjab are to be declared tomorrow.
The results will have a bearing on the political fortunes of former Union minister and wife of Congress MP Amarinder Singh, Preneet Kaur, and the ruling Akalis who are facing anti-incumbency.
The bypolls to Patiala, necessitated after Amarinder got elected to the Lok Sabha from Amritsar seat, witnessed a triangular contest between Preneet Kaur, Bhagwan Das of SAD and Harjeet Singh of AAP.
While a total of eight contestants are in fray for Patiala seat, there are seven candidates from Talwandi Sabo.

Preneet Kaur had lost the Lok Sabha polls to AAP's Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala.
The bypolls to Talwandi Sabo, necessitated after sitting MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu quit Congress to join SAD, too witnessed a triangular contest between Congress's Harminder Singh Jassi, SAD's Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and AAP's Baljinder Kaur, while Balkar Singh, who was initially declared as AAP candidate, contested as Independent.

In the 117-member Punjab Assembly, ruling SAD has a strength of 56 MLAs, while its ally BJP has 12, Congress 44 members and independents three.
To gain simple majority, SAD requires two more members to take its tally to 58.

While Amarinder had campaigned extendsively for Preneet in Patiala with other party leaders, his bete noire and Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa confined himself to Talwandi Sabo for Jassi, a close relative of Sira-based Dera Sacha Sauda Sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.