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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
With two days to go before counting of votes begin, Shiromani Akali Dal leaders were confident that the Akali-Bharatiya Janata Party combine would form the government in Punjab.
Talking to rediff.com from Chandigarh, Captain Kanwaljit Singh, the finance minister in the Parkash Singh Badal government, said the party was confident of victory.
"I do not think much about the so-called exit polls conducted by various television channels," he said.
Most TV channels had predicted that the Congress would form the next government in Punjab, with Aaj Tak saying that the party would get over 90 seats in the 117 member state assembly.
"We know what is the ground reality. You should have seen the enthusiasm of the people in the rural areas," Kanwaljit Singh said.
According to him, the Akalis and the BJP would get 61 and four seats respectively. "The Akalis will win seats from all parts of the state. While the BJP will get seats from Jallandhar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur," he claimed.
Though Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also shared Singh's sentiments, he said: "I think that the Akalis will win 50-55 seats and the BJP will get anywhere between 7-10 seats," he said.
Sources close to Uttranchal Governor Surjit Singh Barnala also claimed that the Akalis would manage to form the government.
Gaganjit Singh Barnala, the governor's son, contested on an Akali ticket from the Dhuri assembly seat.
"We believe that the independents would play a decisive role in the formation of the news government. Besides, the Akalis would forge an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party after the results are known," the sources said.
