Talking to reporters before leaving for stronghold Patiala, state Congress President Amarinder Singh claimed that Haryana's Sirsa headquartered-sect Dera Sacha Sauda was supporting his party.

"The Dera is supporting the Congress. The message (from the Dera) has reached the premis (followers) and they are supporting the Congress. This was expected after the way Akalis treated Dera followers," he said.

Singh claimed there was a clear wave in his party's favour. "We are winning hands down and as I have said, we will cross 70 seats."

"People of Punjab want to oust the Akalis. There has been no development and (Deputy Chief Minister and SAD President) Sukhbir Singh Badal is trying to sell dreams to the people. No development can be seen on the ground," the Congress chief ministerial candidate said.

Over 250 contestants including Amarinder Singh, his wife and Union Minister Preneet Kaur, had visited Dera premises at Sirsa and sought blessings from sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

After casting his vote in his home constituency Lambi's Badal village, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said that SAD-BJP would comfortably win on the basis of the development in the past five years.

"Whatever the Congress people may say, it doesn't matter. People know that this government has worked for their betterment and today pro-incumbency wave is sweeping the state," the Akali patriarch said.

His son and Deputy, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the people will reject the Congress, which has no agenda for taking Punjab forward.

Earlier, the Badals including the chief minister and Sukhbir arrived together and cast their vote in the Badal village.

However, Badal estranged nephew and chief of People's Party of Punjab, Manpreet Singh Badal, whose party is also contesting the Punjab polls, was the first to arrive to cast his vote in the Badal village.

Manpreet is seeking re-election for the fifth time from Gidderbaha constituency. He was followed by another estranged relative of the Badals, Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, cousin of the chief minister who is contesting as Congress candidate from Lambi, from where 84-year-old Badal is seeking re-election.

The chief minister is also pitted against his own brother, Gurdas Badal, father of Manpreet, from Lambi.

After casting his vote, Sukhbir Badal took a dig at PPP and asked people not to waste votes on outfits which are going to have no stake in government formation.

Manpreet Badal, while talking to reporters at the Badals native village, said winds of change were sweeping around the world and they were also sweeping Punjab, where people were looking for an alternative front.

"We will break the political monopoly of the SAD and Congress. People now have a choice and they will vote for Sanja Morcha (Manpreet led third front that includes Left parties too)".

Taking a dig at both the SAD and Congress, Manpreet said, "There is an acute sense of embarrassment that Punjab has been left behind. Every fourth family living in Punjab migrated from Pakistan after the Partition. People left their businesses and homes in Sargodha, Lahore, Peshawar and other places in Pakistan hoping for better lives.

"Punjabis made maximum sacrifices during the country's freedom movement, but what have they got over the years?" he asked.

Mahesh Inder Singh said this was his third election and with each poll he has improved his performance. This time he feels his chances are bright as the Congress wave is robust.

BJP MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Dr Navjot Kaur, who is fighting as BJP candidate from Amritsar East, cast their votes too. Both claimed the SAD-BJP would ride to power again and development would be further accelerated.

Congress' senior leader and Ludhiana MP, Manish Tewari also cast his vote in Ludhiana.

Dera sources have, meanwhile, maintained that no formal announcement with regards to support to candidates or parties was made and the message to the grass root Dera followers is delivered through its own internal information mechanism making it hard for the outsiders to comprehend the same.

The Dera had extended support to the Congress in the last Assembly polls in 2007.