BHOPAL: The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday won the post of mayor in the Singrauli municipal polls but could garner just five seats in the 45-member body, putting a question mark on how its party functionary on the hot seat will helm matters.
While AAP's mayoral candidate Rani Agrawal defeated the BJP's Chandrapratap Vishwakarma by a margin of 9,352 votes, the saffron party and the opposition Congress are the main groups in the local body.
The BJP led with 23 seats, followed by 12 for the Congress, Independents three and Bahujan Samaj Party two.
The BJP won the mayoral elections in Burhanpur, Satna, Khandwa, Sagar and Ujjain, while the Congress won in Chhindwara.
The results brought some respite for the opposition Congress with its win in Chhindwara and leads in two other places. In the last elections, the party had failed to win even one out of the total 16 corporations in the state.
The BJP will have a strong chance of getting its candidate elected to the post of municipal corporation chairperson, who acts akin to the Assembly speaker in urban body meetings, observers said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated colleague Rani Agrawal on the party's maiden mayoral poll win.
"Many congratulations to AAP candidate Rani Agarwal ji, who won the post of Mayor in Singrauli Municipal Corporation of Madhya Pradesh, and to all the winners and workers. Work hard for the people. Now, the people in every corner of the country are liking the honest politics of work of Aam Aadmi Party," Kejriwal tweeted.
"People in every corner of the country are now liking the honest politics of work of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he added. "AAP's grand entry in Madhya Pradesh," the party tweeted, adding, "Our Mayoral candidate @AAPRaniAgrawal wins Singrauli. Congratulations to our winning councillors as well. Madhya Pradesh welcomes @ArvindKejriwal Model of Governance with open arms."
This was the first time the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested the civic polls in Madhya Pradesh.
Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, had recently held a roadshow in support of Agrawal.
AAP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh termed Agrawal's victory a "good sign", and said it would further strengthen the party's base in Madhya Pradesh.
"Victory of party candidates in the civic polls is not an ordinary incident. I firmly believe that this victory will further strengthen the AAP across Madhya Pradesh," he said.
"The Aam Aadmi Party is growing fast under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. AAP's poll strategist and Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Sandeep Pathak claimed that the results of the Madhya Pradesh civic polls would bring "a big change" in the country's politics.
"Municipal elections are more difficult than major elections. Madhya Pradesh elections are an indication that after Delhi and Punjab, people of other states are also looking up to the model presented by the Aam Aadmi Party," he said.
The local bodies elections in the state for 413 municipalities, including 16 nagar palika nigam, 99 nagar palika parishad and 298 nagar parishad, were held in two phases --- on July 6 and 13.
Under the first phase, polling was held in 11 municipal corporations, 36 nagar palikas and 86 nagar parishads.
The counting of votes for these elections began at 9 am on Sunday.