Congress mops south Malwa, SAD routed in bastion Bathinda
In Bathinda corporation, the state’s ruling party won 43 of the 50 wards that went to the polls on Sunday
BATHINDA: The Congress is set to have its mayor in the highstakes municipal corporations of Bathinda and Abohar.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was routed in its stronghold of Bathinda, where the local Congress legislator and state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal led an organised election campaign.
In Bathinda, the Congress won 43 of the 50 wards that went to the polls on Sunday. It is for the first time in 53 years that the Congress has managed to win a majority in the municipality, an Akali bastion.
For the last two consecutive terms, the Akalis were having their leaders as Bathinda mayor in support of their former political ally, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). The BJP failed to win a single seat, whereas in the last elections, the party had eight councillors when it contested in alliance with the SAD. In the last two terms, the posts of deputy and senior deputy mayor had the BJP leaders.
In the backdrop of strong opposition on the contentious central farm laws, the BJP had fielded candidates only in 39 wards, and on 21 seats, the party candidates scored less than 100 votes.
Bathinda district has 15 municipalities, the highest in southern Punjab, where the Congress gained electoral control over 154 seats and SAD managed to win only 33 wards.
Congress wins 49 of 50 seats in Abohar
After sweeping 49 of the 50 seats, the Congress is set to get its first mayor in Abohar, the home turf of state Congress president Sunil Jakhar. Interestingly, the Abohar assembly segment is represented by the lone BJP MLA, Arun Narang, but the party has been routed as it faces a backlash in Punjab over the passage of the farm laws in Parliament.
The Congress also impressive ly won the civic bodies of Ferozepur, Fazilka and Faridkot districts. Candidates of the ruling party won 20 seats of Moga municipal corporation of 50 wards. The party is likely to seat its candidate as mayor with the support of 10 independents.
But the party was left embarrassed after the Congress MLA from Moga Harjot Kamal’s wife Rajinder Kaur lost her election from ward number-1.
The Congress won all 33 seats of Ferozepur municipality and another 15 in Guruharsahai local body. Also, the party candidates formed the majority in Mansa by winning 14 seats from 27 wards.
In Muktsar, the home district of the politically influential Badal clan, the Congress registered victories in Muktsar and Malout municipalities with a clear majority. In Gidderbaha, the Congress pocketed 18 of the 19 seats.