Chandigarh: AAP Friday won over 48 per cent of the municipal wards in Punjab civic body elections till around 9.30 pm on Friday, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann saying that people supported the ruling party’s developmental politics and defeated the opposition’s “politics of hatred”.
According to Punjab State Election Commission data, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 954 of the total 1,977 wards, the Congress came at the second spot by winning 393 wards, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secured 192 wards while the BJP managed to win 172 wards in the civic body elections.
Independent candidates performed fairly well in these urban local body elections by registering victory in 251 wards. The BSP won seven wards.
Counting of votes was still underway as the results for eight more wards were yet to be declared.
In the municipal corporation polls, the ruling AAP registered a decisive victory in Moga, Barnala, Bathinda and Batala by winning 30, 36, 31 and 30 wards respectively, while it was the single largest party in Mohali with 26 wards.
The Congress secured a dominant position in Kapurthala by winning 31 wards, while the BJP was the single largest party in Pathankot and Abohar with 22 and 28 wards respectively, according to the result.
There are 50 wards each in every municipal corporation.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal thanked the people of Punjab for the “spectacular” victory of his party in the civic body elections in Punjab.
“Congratulations to everyone. By casting this historic vote, the people have applauded the work of the Bhagwant Mann government. We will continue to do good work in the same way in the future,” he said.
Targeting the BJP, Kejriwal said, “The ED party has been wiped out. The ED party, which harassed people by conducting so many raids on small traders in Punjab, has today been avenged by the people.”
AAP workers celebrated by exchanging sweets and dancing to the beats of ‘dhol’ with AAP leader Manish Sisodia thanking voters for reposing faith in party leaders Kejriwal and Mann in these polls.
“People of Punjab have replied to the ‘ED party’. ‘ED politics’ will not work in Punjab,” Sisodia said, claiming that 1,142 candidates of the BJP have forfeited their security deposits.
The opposition parties, however, lashed out at AAP government, accusing it of abusing power and misusing official machinery during the municipal elections held in the state.
The vote counting began at 8 am on Friday amid tight security arrangements, officials said.
With AAP’s victory coming before Punjab faces assembly elections early next year, Chief Minister Mann said people gave their stamp of approval to his government’s development works.
The people of Punjab have defeated the opposition’s politics of hatred, he said, adding, “They have rejected parties who indulge in divisive politics.”
Elections to 102 municipal bodies comprising 1,897 wards across eight municipal corporations of Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala and Pathankot along with 75 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats were held using ballot papers on May 26, recording a turnout of 63.94 per cent.
Out of 1,977 wards, candidates in 80 wards were elected unopposed.
For the local body elections, 7,554 candidates were in the fray.
The complete results of eight municipal corporations are yet to be declared.
In the Dhuri Municipal Council having 21 wards, AAP registered victory in 19 while two wards were won by Independents. Dhuri is the home turf of Chief Minister Mann and he is an MLA from the Dhuri assembly segment.
In the Gidderbaha Municipal Council, AAP won 17 out of 19 wards, while the Congress won two wards. Gidderbaha is considered a stronghold of Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
However, in the Chamkaur Sahib Municipal Council with a total of 13 wards, the Congress won seven wards, followed by AAP and Independents who won three wards each. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is a former MLA from the Chamkaur Sahib assembly segment.
In Majitha Municipal Council, AAP won seven wards, while the Shiromani Akali registered victory in the remaining six wards. Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia is presently an MLA from the Majitha assembly segment.
Prominent candidates among the winners include AAP nominee Sunny Ahluwalia from ward number 6 and AAP MLA Kulwant Singh’s son Sarabjeet Singh from ward number 42, both in Mohali.
However, former health minister and Congress leader Balbir Singh Sidhu’s son Kanwarbir Singh Sidhu lost from ward number 10 in Mohali.
The civic body elections were seen as a litmus test for AAP and a referendum on Mann government’s works.
The stakes were also high for the Congress to perform in the urban body elections. In some segments, the opposition party performed well as in Kapurthala and Chamkaur Sahib.
However, losing in Gidderbaha Municipal Council, a bastion of Congress leader Warring, is seen as a setback.
The BJP, which was seeing these elections to expand its base and was hoping to register a stupendous victory, fell short of its expectations. It could not perform in urban segments the way it wanted, especially when it had announced it would fight the 2027 assembly elections on its own.
The poll results have brought some relief to the Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD whose performance showed that it has retained its support base in urban segments.
PTI
