Alarm bells in Punjab AAP as it faces jolt in corporation polls, rout in CM Mann turf

Stating that the party’s victory in Patiala was a “landslide” and that it has emerged as the single largest party in two other corporations, Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora said the party was able to win 522 of the 961 wards that went to the polls in the five corporations and 41 councils and nagar panchayats. “This means 55% of the total wards are in the AAP’s control while the Congress has won only 20% (191 wards) and the BJP and SAD have won only 7% (69 wards) and 3% (31 wards) respectively,” he said.

In the Sangrur council polls, the AAP won only seven of the 29 wards while the Congress and BJP won nine and three wards respectively.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had not contested in Sangrur and had backed Independents. Sources said three of the 10 winning Independents were backed by the party.

In Patiala, where the state government had deferred elections to seven of the 60 wards following a rap by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for alleged “excesses”, the AAP won 35 of the 45 wards that went to the polls while the SAD won two wards. The Congress and BJP won four each. With eight AAP councillors being elected unopposed, the party has a clear majority.

The High Court’s rap came after a video purportedly showing a BJP candidate’s nomination papers being snatched and thrown on the ground went viral. The court also directed the government to act against the police personnel, who were seen in the video but failed to act.

On Saturday, state BJP mahila wing president Jai Inder Kaur approached the Election Commission (EC) with a video allegedly showing two outsiders in a counting room.

Dismissing the allegation of “excesses”, Arora said the Opposition was raising the issue “unnecessarily”. “In Sangrur, 10 Independents won. Had there been malpractice, this would not have happened,” the Punjab AAP chief said.

In Ludhiana, which saw polls for 95 wards, the AAP won 41 seats while the Congress finished second with 30. The BJP and the SAD won 19 and two seats, respectively, with three Independents also winning the polls. However, in another embarrassment for the ruling party, the wives of its two sitting MLAs – Sukhchain Kaur Gogi (wife of Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogoi) and Meenu Parashar (wife of Ludhiana Central MLA Ashok Parashar) – lost the polls in Ludhiana.

In Amritsar, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, winning 43 of the 85 seats while the AAP, BJP and SAD won 24, nine and four seats respectively. Congress sources said five Independents who won the polls have also pledged their support to the party.

Phagwara saw a hung verdict with the Congress, which had a pre-poll alliance with the BSP, emerging as the single largest party with 22 of the 50 seats with the BSP getting three. The AAP, BJP, SAD and Independents won 12, four, three and six wards respectively.

Jalandhar saw the AAP fall short of majority as it won only 39 of the 85 seats while the Congress came in second with 34 seats. The BJP, BSP and Independents won 19, one and two seats respectively.

However, there was good news for the AAP from Dirba Nagar council, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema’s turf, where the party won 11 of the 13 seats with the BJP and Independents winning one each.

While the AAP faced a setback in the corporation polls, it managed to win 31 of the 41 municipal councils that went to the polls. While the Congress won two councils, Independents had an upper hand in the remaining eight.

Arora however maintained that the party has shown “exemplary results”. “We wrested urban areas, which are seen to be the strongholds of the Congress and BJP,” he said.

Congress leader Sandeep Singh Sandhu dismissed Arora’s claims. “They can claim victory but they won 92 of the 117 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls. Now, they claim they have won 31 councils,” he said. “They may claim they have won the Jalandhar and Ludhiana municipal corporations too. They are the ruling party but could win only one corporation.”