Punjab: Local bodies' elections
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2018
Cong sweeps civic polls, AAP fails to score
September 24, 2018: The Times of India
The ruling Congress swept civic polls in Punjab, winning 331 of the 353 (93.7%) zila parishad zones and 2,351 of 2,899 (81%) panchayat samiti seats. While the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP combine suffered a setback, winning just 18 and two zila parishad zones respectively, AAP failed to open its account.
According to the results of 22 zila parishad and 150 panchayat samitis declared on Sunday, Congress candidates secured victory on 2,351 panchayat samiti seats, followed by 352 of SAD, 63 of BJP, 20 of AAP and one of CPI, and two each of SAD (A) and CPI(M). Faction-ridden AAP fought a losing battle, performing worse than even the independents and smaller parties. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party did not field candidates at many places.
“My heartiest congratulations and heartfelt gratitude to the people and Punjab Congress workers for scripting a sweeping victory for the Congress ,” chief minister Amarinder Singh tweeted on Sunday. Meanwhile, alleging widespread rigging during the rural elections, AAP leadership has decided to gherao the CM’s official residence on September 25.
Ludhiana civic polls
February 27, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
The BJP-SAD alliance won 21 seats and Lok Insaf Party led by MLA Simmerjit Singh Bains won 7 seats whereas independents bagged four seats
Congress swept the Ludhiana municipal polls by winning 62 out of 95 wards
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh hailed the results as a "clear vindication of the Congress government's policies"
The Congress swept the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation election by winning 62 out of 95 wards, the results of which were declared. The BJP-SAD alliance won 21 seats and Lok Insaf Party led by MLA Simmerjit Singh Bains won 7 seats whereas independents bagged four seats, an election office spokesperson said here. For the first time AAP which contested 31 seats opened its account when its one woman candidate was declared elected from ward no-11.
The election for Ludhiana MC was held on February 24. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has hailed the Ludhiana MC results as a "clear vindication of the Congress government's policies and an endorsement of the pro-people initiatives undertaken by it in the past one year".
In a statement welcoming the poll results, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also lauded the performance of the party in the MC polls, which they said marked the total annihilation of the opposition parties in the state.
While the chief minister congratulated the party workers and leaders, including Cabinet minister, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, and Ludhiana MP, Ravneet Bittu, for steering the sweeping victory for the Congress, Jakhar said it had once again underscored the faith that the people of Punjab had in Amarinder's leadership.
Amarinder termed the victory as a "befitting reply by the people of Punjab to the misdeeds and fabrications of the opposition, which had been trying to mislead them with baseless allegations against the Congress government". Opposition SAD-BJP and AAP had accused the ruling Congress of rigging the polls.
With the AAP being reduced to a single seat, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) relegated to a poor second, winning just 11 out of 55 seats contested, and the BJP losing all but 10 of the 47 seats contested, it was clear that the political antics of these parties since their defeat in the Assembly polls a year ago had failed to impress the people, Jakhar said.
Meanwhile, the Congress high command has also lauded the party's victory in the MC polls and congratulated Amarinder Singh, for it.
2021
Elections/ Municipal corporations
February 17, 2021: The Times of India
Congress sweeps municipal corporation polls in Punjab
CHANDIGARH: The ruling Congress won six municipal corporations and emerged as the largest party in the seventh, sweeping the urban body polls in Punjab.
The Congress won in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala and Pathankot, in the civic polls held against the backdrop of the farmers' agitation. In Moga, it needed victories in six more wards to control the municipal corporation. The counting for another municipal corporation will take place Thursday. In addition, results for 109 municipal corporations are also expected.
The outcome comes as a boost for the Congress, which has been backing the protest by farmers – a majority of them from Punjab and Haryana – against the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress is also eyeing a win in the Assembly elections, which are just a year away.
Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar said people have rejected the “negative politics” of parties like the BJP, SAD and AAP.
“We contested on the development agenda. This victory will embolden our workers to work hard,” Jakhar told reporters. In Moga, where no political party has scored a majority, the support of independent candidates could be crucial.
The Congress won 20 of the 50 municipal wards in Moga, the Shiromani Akali Dal 15, the Aam Aadmi Party 4, the Bharatiya Janata Party 1 and independents 10.
The Punjab election campaign was marred by stray clashes between party workers with opposition leaders alleging at some places that their candidates were being stopped from filing nomination papers.
The State Election Commission had ordered repolling at two booths for the Mohali municipal corporation. Therefore, the counting for the entire civic body will take place on Thursday.
Altogether 9,222 candidates contested the polls to the eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils.
The Congress fielded 2,037 candidates, the SAD 1,569, the BJP 1,003, the AAP 1,606 and the BSP 160. As many as 2,832 were independents.
The BJP and the Akali Dal, which had walked out of the National Democratic Alliance last year over the contentious farm laws, fought separately.
Over 70 per cent voting was recorded in the civic body elections on February 14.
2024
Municipal corporations
Navjeevan Gopal, Dec 23, 2024: The Times of India
Chandigarh : A fractured mandate in elections to three of five municipal corporations in Punjab — Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Phagwara — has had Congress worried about the prospect of horse trading by governing party AAP, its INDIA bloc ally. Such is the desperation that there is talk of Congress even tying up with BJP in Ludhiana to keep AAP out.
“If an EVM machine can be broken, how much time will it take to break a member,” Partap Singh Bajwa, leader of the opposition in the assembly, told TOI.
He alleged that AAP “will try to poach not only in the corporations where there is no clear majority but even in Amritsar, where Congress has a majority, and Phagwara (where Congress won 22 of 50 seats but fell short of the majority mark of 26)”.
Alleging poaching by AAP in the past, the Congress legislator accused Arvind Kejriwal’s party of luring former party members Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who was elected Hoshiarpur MP on an AAP ticket this year, and Sushil Kumar Rinku, the ex-Jalandhar MP who later joined BJP.
He also mentioned former SAD functionary Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, who won the Gidderbaha bypoll on an AAP ticket.
“Their entire policy is of deceit,” said Bajwa, adding that the civic poll verdict was “completely against AAP govt in Punjab”.
BJP veteran Manoranjan Kalia said there was no anti-defection law in corporations. “In Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the numbers required to get a simple majority are small. So, horse-trading will play the role. The writing is on the wall.” With AAP failing to make it to the halfway mark, speculation is rife about BJP and Congress not being averse to joining hands to form the council in Ludhiana. BJP and Congress combined have 49 councillors.
Congress district chief Sanjay Talwar said, “Congress and BJP councillors are working to repeat the history of 1992.” BJP has so far kept mum on the possibility.
