Punjab governor V P Singh Badnore on Sunday dissolved the state Assembly after outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal submitted his resignation to him.
"In pursuance of powers conferred upon me by sub clause (b) of clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I, V P Singh Badnore, Governor of the state of Punjab, hereby dissolve the 14th Punjab Vidhan Sabha with effect from the afternoon of 12th March 2017," he said in the order.
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Earlier, Badal met the Governor and submitted his resignation after his party suffered a loss in the Assembly polls.
Prior to it, Badal held a meeting of the Cabinet which took a decision to dissolve the Assembly.
SAD-BJP alliance faired poorly in the recently concluded polls by bagging total 18 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. SAD won 15 seats and its ally BJP only three.
Congress ended the SAD-BJP combine's 10-year regime by registering a thumping win by bagging 77 seats, one short of two-third majority.
Rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to get 20 seats, while two seats went into the kitty of its ally Lok Insaf Party (LIP).
Meanwhile, a meeting of Congress Legislature Party is underway in which Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh, who is also the party's Chief ministerial candidate, is all set to be elected as its leader and after which he will stake claim to form the next government.
Later, Amarinder will be meeting the Governor and then rush to Delhi to hold discussions with the Congress High command.
