CHANDIGARH: The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) performed poorly in the civic body elections held on Saturday, having secured clear-cut majority in only one corporation out of five.
AAP won Patiala Municipal Corporation, emerged as the single largest party in Ludhiana and Jalandhar municipal corporations, but fell short of the majority mark in Amritsar and Phagwara municipal corporations. Congress won Amritsar Municipal Corporation and emerged as the single largest party in Phagwara.
AAP won 26 out of 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. Polling, this time, was disrupted by bursts of violence as the ruling party generally wins all major civic bodies in the state.
More than 3,300 candidates contested in the civic body polls and a total of 37.32 lakh voters were eligible to vote in the elections. Voter turnout was 65.85 per cent; polling percentage at Phagwara was 55.21 per cent, Jalandhar 50.27 per cent, Amritsar 44.05 per cent, Ludhiana 46.95 per cent and Patiala 32.95 per cent.
AAP won 43 out of 53 seats in former CM Capt Amarinder Singh's home turf, the 60-member Patiala Municipal Corporation, crossing the majority mark of 31. Congress and BJP won four seats each while SAD won two seats. Elections to seven corporation wards have been postponed.
In Ludhiana AAP won 41 of 95, falling short of majority by seven seats. Congress won 30 wards, BJP won 19, SAD won two and independent candidates won 3 wards. In a major setback to AAP, 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. The wife of former Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Mamta Ashu, also lost.
In Jalandhar AAP won 38 of 85, missing the majority mark by five wards. Congress secured 25 seats, BJP won 19 wards, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won one and independent candidates emerged victorious in two wards.
In Amritsar Congress won 43 out of 85 wards, AAP won 24, BJP won nine, SAD won four and independent candidates won five wards.
In Phagwara Congress won 22 wards, AAP won 12, BJP four, BSP three, SAD three and independent candidates won six. No party touched the majority mark of 26 seats. However, Congress emerged as the single largest party and BSP is likely to support it in the 50-member house.
Besides not performing as per expectations in the five big municipal corporations of the state, the Aam Aadmi Party took a major hit in its bastion Sangrur, as it could win only seven out of 29 seats of the local Municipal Council.
This is the second consecutive defeat after the Barnala assembly bypoll in its political capital, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP Punjab president Aman Arora and State Finance Minister Harpal Cheema.
Punjab AAP President Aman Arora claimed that the party is now officially the 'No. 1 party' in Punjab's urban areas. He said the illusion that the BJP and Congress are the strongest parties in urban areas has been shattered. In this election, AAP won more than 55 per cent of the seats. Together, SAD-BJP and Congress could not even secure 45 per cent.
He mentioned that out of 977 wards, the results of 961 wards were declared yesterday. Of these, AAP candidates won in 522 wards. Meanwhile, Congress managed to win only 20 per cent of the seats, securing 191 wards.
The BJP and Akali Dal faced a crushing defeat in this election. BJP won merely 7 per cent of the seats, with 69 of its candidates emerging victorious.
Similarly, Akali Dal managed to win only 3 per cent of the seats, with just 31 of its candidates securing victory. BSP had 5 winners and could secure victory in only 0.5 per cent of the seats. The number of independent candidates who won stood at 143, and their victory percentage was approximately 15 per cent, Arora claimed.
He said that AAP achieved a landslide victory in the Patiala Municipal Corporation.
In Jalandhar and Ludhiana, AAP fell just two to four seats short of a majority, and the party is confident of having its mayor in these cities as well.
Arora said that the Aam Aadmi Party has achieved a significant milestone in these elections. From zero per cent to 55 per cent, this is a historic leap.
Earlier, AAP did not have a mayor or a municipal council president anywhere. Now, the party will have mayors in three cities and presidents in 31 municipal councils and committees.