“With these results, all these parties have got a foretaste of things to come in the assembly elections, due just a year from now,” Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said speaking to media.
Team Clarion
CHANDIGARH — The Congress party made a clean sweep of Punjab’s seven municipal corporations in the state local body polls and bagged all the bodies for which the results were declared on Wednesday.
The emphatic drubbing of the BJP in the urban polls seemingly underscored people’s angst against the BJP for the enactment of the ‘draconian’ farm laws for which farmers are staging protests for the last three months at borders of the national capital.
In the final count, the Congress won 1,199 of the 1,815 wards in municipal councils and 281 of the 350 municipal corporation seats, with Shiromani Akali Dal trailing at 289 and 33, the Bharatiya Janata Party at 38 and 20, and the Aam Aadmi Party at 57 and nine, respectively, while the remaining went largely to independents and the BSP (K) and the CPI winning in 13 and 12 wards, respectively.
The swing in favour of the Congress in comparison with the 2015 municipal corporation elections in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Pathankot districts is manifest in the fact that from 11 seats back then, the party’s tally has improved to a whopping 149 now, reports IANS.
Similarly, in the wards, from 356 in 2015, the Congress score now has gone up to 1,480.
Bathinda under the leadership of Congress MLA and state finance minister, Manpreet Singh Badal posted the most stunning result of the day as it was after 53 years that the city was returning to the Congress fold.
Manpreet Singh Badal, represents the Bathinda urban assembly seat.
History has been made today!
Bathinda will get a Congress Mayor for the 1st time in 53 years!
Thank you to ALL Bathinda residents.Congratulations to the people of Bathinda for a spectacular victory.
Kudos to all Congress candidates and workers, who toiled for this day. pic.twitter.com/Xvczq5MjfU— Manpreet Singh Badal (@MSBADAL) February 17, 2021
The first major polls to be held in Punjab since the enactment of the ‘draconian’ farm laws underscored people’s angst with the BJP, which was responsible for the anti-farmer legislation with the active support of its then ally, SAD, and the collusion of ruling AAP in Delhi, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said.
Hailing Congress’ spectacular victory in the municipal polls Amarinder Singh said its not just a validation of his government’s development-oriented policies but also a total rejection of the “anti-people” actions of the major opposition parties — the SAD, the AAP and the BJP.
Congratulating state Congress President Sunil Jakhar, as well as all MLAs, members and workers of the party, for the sweeping victory in the civic polls, Punjab Chief Minister said the people of the state had “clearly and unequivocally denounced the divisive, undemocratic, unconstitutional and regressive agendas” of the three parties.
All these parties had “shamelessly trampled the rights of the farmers, with the clear aim of destroying Punjab”, he said, adding SAD’s and AAP’s “subsequent theatrics” for the farmers had failed to befool the voters, who had seen through the political gimmickry of these parties, according to reports.
“It was a powerful message to these parties to keep out of Punjab, which was not ready to either forgive or forget the deceit and the treachery to which the people of the state had been subjected by them,” Chief Minister added.
“With these results, all these parties have got a foretaste of things to come in the assembly elections, due just a year from now,” Amarinder Singh told the media here.
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.
(With inputs from agencies)
