Chandigarh, February 17
The ruling Congress won six municipal corporations and emerged as the largest party in the seventh, sweeping the urban body polls in Punjab on Wednesday.
The Congress won in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala and Pathankot, in the civic polls held against the backdrop of the farmers’ agitation.
The counting for Mohali municipal corporation will take place on Thursday.
As per results of seven Municipal Corporations and 109 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats, Congress won 271 wards of total 351 of seven Municipal Corporations of Abohar, Batala, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Moga and Bathinda and byelection of one ward of Amritsar.
As per reports from Municipal Corporations, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secured 33 wards, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 9, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to get victory in 20 wards and Independents added 18 wards to their kitty.
According to the results of 109 Councils and Nagar Panchayats, Congress has won 1,078 wards, while Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) got 251 Wards, whereas Aam Aadmi Party succeeded in 50 wards. Apart from this, Bharatiya Janata Party won 29, BSP won 5 wards and independents have succeeded in 375 wards.
The ruling Congress led by Capt Amarinder Singh has reaffirmed its hold in most of the districts.
The results, ahead of the state Assembly polls, would serve as a booster for Capt Amarinder Singh who is aiming for another term in the 2022 Assembly elections.
It would be a signal for detractors of the Chief Minister.
The outcome comes as a boost for the Congress, which has been backing the protest by farmers – a majority of them from Punjab and Haryana – against the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress is also eyeing a win in the Assembly elections, which are just a year away.
Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar said people have rejected the “negative politics” of parties like the BJP, SAD and AAP.
“We contested on the development agenda. This victory will embolden our workers to work hard,” Jakhar told reporters.
In Moga, where no political party has scored a majority, the support of independent candidates could be crucial.
The Congress won 20 of the 50 municipal wards in Moga, the Shiromani Akali Dal 15, the Aam Aadmi Party 4, the Bharatiya Janata Party 1 and independents 10.
The Punjab election campaign was marred by stray clashes between party workers with opposition leaders alleging at some places that their candidates were being stopped from filing nomination papers.
The State Election Commission had ordered repolling at two booths for the Mohali municipal corporation. Therefore, the counting for the entire civic body will take place on Thursday.
Though the civic body polls are like a curtainraiser for the Assembly polls, the SAD that was written off by the Congress after its fiasco over the farm laws needs to be taken note of. The AAP that was trying to ride on its support for farmers still needs to work a lot on the ground. The voters seem to have sent a message to the BJP through the civic body polls.
Way ahead of the AAP, the SAD held the second position, though it is way behind the Congress. Due to the anger against the central farm laws, the BJP’s performance has been rather dismal.
Major embarrassments have been the losing of the election by the wife of Congress MLA Harjot Kamal and wife of BJP leader Tiksan sood from Hoshiarpur.
