On the occasion of his platinum jubilee birthday, soon after the marriage of his grandson and a little after the release of his autobiography, Maharaja Amarinder Singh could not have asked for more. He and his party, the Indian National Congress has swept AAP off its feet and the entrenched right wing Modi-BJP supported Badals and the Badal Dal off its throne in the elections to the Punjab Legislative elections -in the border state of India.

A thumping majority win with 77 seats, the people of Punjab have rejected the pseudo-Panthic cry and pseudo-peace mongering of the Akalis and sent back AAP, after its maiden voyage to Punjab. Both the runners up take solace for different reasons -AAP for reasonable numbers on its first foray and Akalis for keeping the new entrant AAP at bay.

The scion of the Patiala dynasty has put to nought all pollsters. Exit polls have no meaning, it seems. Though the contest was three-cornered, results show that Punjab has stuck to its two-party rigmarole.

The dichotomous approach of Amarinder Singh -torn between Congress and Panthic values, has won. The duplicity and dichotomy of the Akalis -from being secular to turning pure Akalis on the eve of elections, has lost.

Radicals -whether contesting or not, hoping to piggy-ride AAP success, semi-radicals and independents wanting to bask in a hung assembly scenario, Sikh nationalists contesting for a separate Sikh homeland, 645 non-residents of Punjab desirous of scripting a new chapter in political participation, coming in plane loads to help a poor party with glitz and fan-fare-all had to eat humble pie.

The analytical groundwork of former BJP elections strategist -Prashant Kishor and 1200 member-strong team, now with the Congress has paid off. Though it is another matter that he miserably failed in Uttar Pradesh.

Amarinder Singh -The People’s Maharaja -as his biography calls him has promised the moon -Punjab to be drug-free within four weeks and resolution of Punjab waters and SYL issue. With the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for 28 March, all eyes are set on the steps the Congress leadership will take and how the central command of the Congress will react and respond.

The Congress party tag line was Chahunda Hai Punjab-Captain di Sarkar -People desire, A government by Captain Amarinder Singh-The people of responded appropriately. Now it is up to the king to live up to his promises of saving the waters of Punjab, distributing free laptops and mobile and more. He has declared that these are the last five years of his political life and that he will build a Punjab for generations to remember. Punjabis wait with bated breath.