The AAP won 40 of the 85 seats in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation elections, followed by the Congress, which secured 24 seats, and the BJP with 18 seats. The BSP won one seat, while two seats were won by Independents.
Although AAP emerged as the single largest party, it fell short of the majority mark of 43 seats required to form the House independently. In a significant result outcome, former Congress Mayor Jagdish Raja, now with AAP, lost his election. His wife, Anita Raja, also faced defeat in the polls. Before this Jagdish Raja had won MC elections six times.
With polling beginning at 7 am, 50.27% polling took place for Jalandhar Corporation elections but overall districts’ poll percentage was 54.90%.
The elections, however, were not without controversy. Former MLA Sheetal Angural from Jalandhar West accused AAP leader and state minister Mohinder Bhagat of manipulating the electoral process. Angural alleged that Bhagat brought people from outside the city to influence the polling.
In Ward 35, a heated argument broke out between AAP workers and Surendra Singh, the husband of Congress candidate Harsharan Kaur Happy, who was reportedly standing outside the polling station. Police were deployed to manage the situation, and Congress MLA and former Indian hockey team player Pargat Singh later arrived at the scene.
Amritsar: An elderly woman being assisted inside a polling station during elections in Punjab for five municipal corporations and 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, in Amritsar, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (PTI Photo)
At Ward 26’s polling booth in Pratap Bagh, police had to intervene when a man allegedly urged voters to support the Congress. Following complaints, police removed the individual from the premises. It was later revealed that the man was a relative of the Congress candidate. However, he claimed he was merely waiting for his companion after casting his vote.
Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said that elections were held for a total of 137 wards, including 85 wards of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar, 13 of Municipal Council Bhogpur, 13 of Municipal Council Goraya, 1 of Municipal Council Phillaur, 11 of Nagar Panchayat Bilga, 13 of Nagar Panchayat Shahkot, and 1 ward of Nagar Panchayat Mehatpur. He added that in 2 wards (Ward No. 1 and 3) of Nagar Panchayat Bilga, unanimous decisions had already been made. Aggarwal said that in the district, 54.90 per cent approximately voting was conducted smoothly and peacefully. Of this, the voter turnout was 50.27 per cent in Municipal Corporation Jalandhar, 71.81 per cent in Municipal Council Bhogpur, 65.36 per cent in Municipal Council Goraya, 55.92 per cent in Municipal Council Phillaur, 66.54 per cent in Nagar Panchayat Bilga, 63.90 per cent in Nagar Panchayat Shahkot, and 61.55 per cent in Nagar Panchayat Mehatpur.
In the Phagwara Municipal Corporation, which falls under Kapurthala district, Congress secured the highest number of seats. Till the time of filing this report, Congress had won 22 seats, followed by AAP with 12 seats, the BJP with 5 seats, and the Akali Dal with 2 seats. Independents won on 3 seats.
In Kapurthala district, a total of 56.20% voting was recorded in the elections for the Municipal Corporation of Phagwara and the Municipal Panchayats of Bhulath, Begowal, Nadala, and Dhilwan.
For Phagwara Municipal Corporation, polling percentage was 55.21%. Similarly, in Dhilwan 60 per cent, in Bhulath Municipal Panchayat, 63.28 per cent, in Begowal Municipal Panchayat 59.60 per cent turnout, while in Nadala Municipal Panchayat polling was recorded at 64.52 per cent. AAP won 13 of the 50 wards in Pagwara while the Congress claimed 20 wards, followed by four each by BJP and SAD. SAD had contested from nine wards and the BJP had fielded its candidates in 37 wards.
In Hoshiarpur municipal elections, polling was held for three wards of Hoshiarpur Municipal Corporation, one by-election each for the Hariyana and Tanda wards, and the general election for Mahilpur Municipal Panchayat. Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer Komal Mittal reported that the district saw a 61.10% voter turnout. She said that the voter turnout was 51.74% in the three wards of Hoshiarpur Municipal Corporation, 68.06% in Ward No. 11 of Haryana Municipal Council, 76.43% in Ward No. 8 of Tanda Municipal Council, and 68.22% in Mahilpur. In Hoshiarpur AAP won on all seats except five where three Congress and two Independents won.
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