The BJP was weeded out of the municipal areas in Punjab on Wednesday as the Congress party rooted itself firmly even in “inaccessible” grounds before registering a landslide victory during the municipal polls in the state.
The saffron brigade, with mere 29 seats — in the results of seven municipal corporations, and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats announced on Wednesday — was relegated to a lowly fifth position.
The Congress party, supporting the farmers’ movement since the passing of the contentious farm bills, emerged victorious with 1,102 out of more than 1,800 seats, sweeping six of the seven corporations and 106 municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
The hitherto “hard-to-get” areas captured by it included SAD’s home turf Bathinda, where the Congress will have its mayor for the first time in more than half-a-century, and also Pathankot — a known BJP bastion.
An analysis of the results reveals that even the ‘independents’ covered more ground than the BJP by taking into possession 374 seats.
With the independent candidates finishing second in the final tally, the state’s principal opposition party — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — has been pushed to the fourth spot by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which finished third, contesting polls without any ally.
In fact, the results of the civic body polls endorsed the Congress’ stronghold in the state, even though the party had to face embarrassments in Kharar and Moga — where the candidates, related to those in power, failed to taste success, and also in Banga — from where the Congress had got its security forfeited.
Besides, the results also send warning signals to the opposition parties — SAD, AAP, and especially the BJP — to set its house in order with the state set to go for polls within a year from now in early 2022.
While SAD and AAP struggled to keep its ship floating, BJP — which had contested the elections without its coalition partners — remained short to the complete wipe out in the state.
Despite the loss, SAD and AAP saw a silver lining by claiming that their vote share has gone upward. SAD’s Former Minister Daljit Singh Cheema claimed that the party has increased its vote share in urban areas, while the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha and AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema maintained that after rural areas, the AAP has also gained ground in the urban areas.
CONG SWEEPS SIX CORPORATIONS, SHORT OF MAJORITY IN ONE
Registering an impressive victory in the state local body polls — considered to be a semifinal before finals in 2022, the ruling Congress party swept six out of the seven municipal corporations for which results were declared on Wednesday.
The party secured majority in the municipal corporations of Bathinda — first time ever in 53 years, Abohar, Batala, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Pathankot, while it finished short of majority with 20 seats in the 50-seat Moga Municipal Corporation.
The results for the eighth corporation, Mohali, will be announced on Thursday as the Punjab State Election Commission (SEC) had ordered repolling in two wards, which took place on Wednesday, while deferring the counting of votes for a day.
In a historical victory, the Congress managed to capture Akalis’ citadel — Bathinda — for the first time in five decades. Notably, Bathinda is the Lok Sabha constituency of SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was the party’s only representative in the Central Government before quitting in the wake of the passage of the agricultural laws. And Congress leader and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who is MLA from the Bathinda urban assembly seat, is considering the polls as a battle of his prestige.
Elated over the victory, Manpreet tweeted, “History has been made today.
Bathinda will get a Congress Mayor for the 1st time in 53 years! Thank you to ALL Bathinda residents (sic).” The Congress won 43 out of 50 wards, with the other seven going to the SAD.
For the last two consecutive terms, the Akalis were having their leaders as Bathinda mayor in support of their former political ally, BJP. This time, the BJP failed to win a single seat, whereas in the previous elections, the party had eight councillors when it contested in alliance with the SAD.
Facing the farmers’ protest heat in Pathankot, the BJP failed to save its fort in Pathankot. The Congress party won 37 of the 50 wards, while the BJP managed to retain only 11 wards of the Pathankot municipal corporation.
Same is in Abohar Municipal Corporation, where the Congress finished near-perfect. The ruling party won 49 out of 50 wards, and SAD winning just one.
With this, the Congress is set to get its first mayor in Abohar — the home turf of state Congress president Sunil Jakhar. Interestingly, Abohar assembly segment is represented by the lone BJP’s MLA Arun Narang.
However, facing a backlash over the farm laws, the party has been routed.
In a closely contested battle in Moga municipal corporation, the Congress won 20 wards against SAD’s 15, with the remaining 15 split among the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the independents. Congress also won 41 in Hoshiarpur Corporation.
The Congress has also been victorious in Kapurthala municipal corporations, bagging 45 seats.
The Congress also swept the civic body elections in the Majha region, comprising Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Taran districts, by winning 13 of the 16 municipalities.
However, Akalis won the three civic bodies — Majitha nagar council, Qadian nagar council and Ajnala nagar panchayat.
In Majitha — home turf of former minister and SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia, the Akalis managed to win 10 of the 13 seats. However, Ajnala witnessed a tough fight between SAD and the Congress, with Akali candidates winning eight wards and Congress seven.
The other civic bodies of Rayya, Jandiala and Ramdas in Amritsar district were won by the Congress. Also, the Congress candidate won the Amritsar municipal corporation’s ward number 37 byelection.
Voting for the seven municipal corporations along with 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats took place on February 14 (Sunday), with over 71 percent of voters casting their votes. More than 9,000 candidates were in the fray for the local body elections.