Ruling party show: Akalis put up fight, AAP gives in

TRENDS SHOW THAT ELECTORATE ARE GENERALLY COMFORTABLE ELECTING CANDIDATES WHO HAVE ACCESS TO LEADERS OF THE RULING PARTY

CHANDIGARH : As expected, Sunday’s panchayat polls in the state was purely a ruling party’s show.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had its cadres on the ground and its top leaders — patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and president Sukhbir Singh Badal — came out to cast vote to boost the morale of the workers, hoping to gain the lost ground.

Principal opposition party in the state Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on the other hand, stayed away from aggressive campaigning and street fights on the polling day.

Most candidates filed nominations as independent candidates but majority of them were supported by different political parties. In a number of cases, the gram panchayat polls contest turned to be a Congress versus Congress contest.

The results of rural polls, which involve 1.27-crore electorates and 13,276 village heads are to be elected, will set the tone for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in early 2019. The ruling Congress sees result as barometer of the government policies, especially the debt-waiver scheme for farmers that will benefit 10.25-lakh beneficiaries.

For Akali Dal, which has a

large support base among the peasantry, the rural polls (irrespective of the results) are important for an opportunity to mobilise their cadres which was disheartened after party’s poor show in the assembly polls in 2017. For AAP, it was time to conserve energy and resources for the general elections.

As SAD alleged that the ruling party was not letting their candidates to file nomination papers, ruling party leaders said Akalis had a taste of their own medicine, citing panchayat polls in 2013 when it was in power. Generally, ruling party has an upper edge in rural polls.

“The results are no endorsement, and these polls have no significance. Just that panchayats are important for devolution of development funds and every government wants to have their men at the start of political pedestal,” said a social scientist.

He accepted that panchayat polls will set tone for the parliamentary elections as the window between rural elections and general elections was very short.

One third (4,363) of the total 13,276 sarpanches were elected unanimously. And in case of panches, 55% (46,754 of 83,831 posts) got elected unopposed.

SAD WORKERS PROTEST IN KOLIANWALI

Some SAD workers protested in Kolianwali in Lambi constituency.

Akali Dal candidate Kashmir Singh in a complaint alleged that “the Congress workers captured the booth and there should be re-polling”.