Caravan News
CHANDIGARH — The Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced almost a rout in the local body elections in Punjab, with the party winning only 65 out of 3252 seats that went to poll. Its local ally Akali Dal also received a drubbing as it could win 371 seats. On the other hand, the ruling Congress party won 2,682 seats.
Aam Aadmiy Party also made a poor performance. While it could not win a single seat in Zila Parishad, it won 20 seats in Panchayat Samiti.
The elections were held for 353 seats of Zila Parishads and 2899 seats of Panchayat Samitis across the state.
Out of 353 seats of Zila Parishad, Congress won 331 seats and 2351 seats out of 2899 of Panchayat Samitis. BJP won 2 and 63 seats in the two layers respectively.
The humiliating defeat of BJP, amidst a controversy manufactured around the Pakistan visit of Congress leader and minister in the state Navjot Singh Siddhu. Lots of TV debates were conducted in bid to brand Siddhu and his party ‘unpatriotic’, but they left little impact on the ground.
Just months ahead of Assembly polls in four states, the defeat could not be a good news for the saffron party.
In 2017, the Congress had dethroned the BJP-Akali Dal government in Punjab as it returned to power with thumping majority — by winning 77 seats in the 117-member Assembly. The BJP-Akali combine was restricted to 18 seats.
