Chandigarh, May 30 (PTI) The AAP winning more than 48 per cent of municipal bodies in the Punjab civic body polls has come as a shot in the arm for the ruling party ahead of the Assembly elections due early next year.
After the results of the municipal polls were announced on Friday, the AAP dubbed its “resounding” victory an endorsement of the Bhagwant Mann government’s development works undertaken over the past more than four years.
However, the opposition parties have accused the Mann dispensation of misusing official machinery and abusing power during the elections, claiming that the results didn’t reflect the ground reality in Punjab.
According to Punjab State Election Commission (SEC) data, the AAP won 958 municipal wards, more than 48 per cent of the 1,977 that went to polls on May 26, while the Congress finished a distant second with 397 wards.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won 192 wards, the BJP 172, the BSP 7, while Independent candidates won in 251 wards, the data showed.
Out of the eight municipal corporations with 50 wards each, the AAP registered decisive victories in five – Moga, Barnala, Bathinda, Batala and Mohali. Of these, four are in the Malwa region barring Batala.
Congress secured a dominant victory in Kapurthala, while the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Pathankot and Abohar, SEC data showed.
The civic body elections were seen as a litmus test for the AAP and a referendum on the Mann government’s work since taking charge in 2022.
The government has been claiming various achievements such as free electricity for citizens, government jobs for the youth, and canal water for irrigation, among others.
“The people of Punjab have given their stamp of approval to the AAP government’s work, and shown a mirror to the opposition parties,” Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said.
According to the results, the AAP performed well even on the home turf of some senior opposition leaders.
In the Gidderbaha municipal council in Muktsar district, a stronghold of Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the AAP won 17 of the 19 wards, while the Congress managed just two.
The AAP also won seven of the 13 wards in the Majitha municipal council. Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia is the MLA from the Majitha Assembly segment.
The AAP’s strong showing followed an aggressive campaign led by state ministers, MLAs and other leaders.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the scale of victory reflected the broad support for AAP from every section of society, and expressed confidence that the party would surpass its 2022 tally – when it won 92 seats in the 117-member House – in the 2027 Punjab polls.
However, experts believe that voters in local body elections and bypolls often support the ruling party, and their outcomes often don’t serve as a reliable indicator for Assembly election results.
“The incumbent party has an advantage in any local election or by-election. That way, the AAP doing well is not something unusual. People generally vote for the party in power in these elections,” Ashutosh Kumar, a professor of political science at Panjab University, said.
The Congress, which won only 20 per cent of the total wards, faced a drubbing at Warring’s home turf Gidderbaha, but managed to win the Kapurthala municipal corporation by bagging 31 out of 50 wards.
Senior Congress leader Rana Gurjeet Singh is the MLA from Kapurthala.
At Chamkaur Sahib, considered as a bastion of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the party won seven out of 13 wards.
The BJP, which was hoping for an improved show in the polls, fell short of its expectations.
It could not perform in the urban segments the way it desired, especially after announcing that it would go solo in the 2027 Punjab polls.
Despite aggressive campaigning by Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and state BJP working president Ashwani Sharma, it finished fourth in the polls.
It tested success in the Pathankot municipal corporation, where it emerged as the single largest party. Pathankot is the home turf of Ashwani Sharma.
In Abohar, considered a bastion of former Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, the BJP won 28 out of 50 wards.
The party suffered a blow in Barnala which the AAP won. Barnala is the home turf of newly appointed Punjab BJP president Kewal Dhillon.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said that despite “serious violations” of the model code of conduct, “misuse” of state police and the administration, and ballot paper voting, the AAP could not cross the 50 per cent mark.
“This shows that a large section of the electorate is against the government and is looking for a new alternative,” Chugh claimed.
The Shiromani Akali Dal led by Sukhbir Badal also failed to put up a strong performance, winning 13 out of 400 wards in the eight municipal corporations.
It failed to open its account in Abohar, Barnala, Pathankot and Batala.
However, in the Majitha municipal council, it secured victory in six out of 13 wards besides winning nine out of 11 wards in the Maluka nagar panchayat in Bathinda. PTI CHS VSD ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.