Punjab electoral politics and voting behaviour in assembly election from 2012 to 2022

The present study investigates the events and circumstances that shape the voter’s decisions and their involvement in the electoral process. It also aims to analyze factors that have affected electoral politics and voting behavior in the Punjab Assembly election. India’s geo-political, socio-economic, cultural, and religious conditions played an important role in the formation, identity, and growth of the political parties in Punjab. The present study deals with the comparative analysis of the major political organizations and their role in future political developments in the province. This research article also provides a deep political insight into the nature and quality invested in the leadership of the Punjab political parties. The paper analyzes the analytical overview of Punjab’s electoral politics from the 2012 to 2022 Assembly elections. Lok Sabha elections 2019 initially seemed to be a direct fight in the State of Punjab between the traditional rivals of politics, i.e., the Shiromani Akali Dal—Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and the Congress Party. But the excellent performance of the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party made it a triangular contest between the Shiromani Akali Dal—Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party. The study examines the causes for the Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide success in Punjab elections and why residents overwhelmingly voted for the Delhi model of development promised by the party in the state’s 16th assembly election. The present study is based on secondary data sources and adapted the qualitative and quantitative methods. Participatory research methods, narratives, discourses, and grounded theory are the fundamental approaches besides correlation, technique, and geo-spatial mapping. The data has been analyzed and interpreted with the help of various statistical methods like simple statistics and cartographic techniques for analyzing data like percentages, choropleth, line Graphs, and Arc GIS 10.2. It is being observed that political party-based association, local groupings, language, class, factors of caste, biradari, ideology, and religious identities are the main contributing factors in defining the trend of voting behavior in Punjab. The emergence of Aam Admi party as a dominant political force in electoral politics of Punjab is reflected in the crucial adaptation of civic politics based on its profound Delhi Model.