Congress sweeps civic body polls in Punjab, BJP routed
SAD is a distant second; AAP fails to win any municipality; BJP fares poorly even in its strongholds
CHANDIGARH: The Congress swept the urban local body elections in Punjab against the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ antifarm laws agitation, winning six of the seven municipal corporations results of which were announced on Wednesday. The results of Mohali municipal corporation will be declared on Thursday.
The six municipal corporations where the Congress decimated all opposition and got a clear majority are Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala, and Pathankot. It also emerged as the single largest party in the Moga MCwith 20 of the 50 wards followed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) 15, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) four, BJP one and 10 Independents.
In addition to the eight municipal corporations, the Congress was way ahead of all other parties in majority of 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats that went to polls on February 14, winning 1,373 of the 2,252 wards. The poll results are being seen as a boost for the Congress, which is backing the protests by farmers, ahead of the state assembly elections early next year.
The elections marred by allegations of violence and booth
It is not just a validation of my govt’s policies and programmes but also a total rejection of the anti-people actions of the SAD, AAP and BJP. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, chief minister
capturing by the ruling Congress saw the opposition parties – the SAD, AAP and the BJP — lag way behind. The SAD, a coalition partner of the BJP for 40 years before parting ways over the farm laws last year and contested the election separately — registered victory in 285 wards. The party, which is still to emerge from the ebb in which it had touched after the sacrilege incident in 2015, termed its tally as an “impressive show”.
On the other hand, the BJP, whose candidates were heckled at several places during the poll campaign for framing the farm laws, won from 50 wards. The numbers are quite a drop from their tally in 2015 when the two parties were in power and had contested the polls together.
The SAD and BJP had then won in 1,151 (including BJP 348) of the 2,044 wards with the Congress getting 253 and Independents 624. The AAP, which had stayed away from the civic polls in 2015, has won from 60 wards in Wednesday’s results whereas Independents have bagged 374 wards and BSP five.
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh termed the results as a validation of his government’s policies and rejection of anti-people and anti-farmer parties. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, in a tweet, thanked his party workers for asserting themselves and emerging as a powerful force and challenger to “corrupt and incompetent Congress rulers”.
A total of 9,222 candidates contested the polls to the eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The civic polls were due last year but were postponed three times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The poll code will continue till February 20 and the elected bodies are expected to take charge next week.