Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party won the Patiala city elections, leading in Ludhiana and Jalandhar cities, while Congress led in Phagwara and Amritsar cities.
Elections were held on Saturday (December 21, 2024) to five municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Phagwara and 44 local bodies and nagar panchayats in Punjab.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won in 43 out of 53 wards and is planning to contest the Patiala mayoral election. According to the results announced on Saturday night, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in four wards each, while the Shiromani Akali Dal won in two wards.
AAP was also leading in Ludhiana, winning in 42 out of 95 wards. According to the results, the Congress won in 29 wards, followed by the BJP in 19 wards, independents in 3 wards and SAD2.
In Jalandhar too, AAP won in 39 out of 85 wards while Congress and BJP won in 24 and 19 wards respectively.
However, the Congress was ahead in Amritsar and Phagwara. In Amritsar, Congress is likely to win in 40 wards, AAP in 28 out of 85 wards and BJP in 10.
In Phagwara, no political party reached 26 seats among the 50 ward municipal corporations, but the Congress emerged as the largest party by winning 22 wards. AAP won in 12 wards, BJP in 4 wards and SAD in 3 wards. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won in the third district.
Punjab AAP president Aman Arora claimed that his party created history in the local body elections and secured over 50 per cent of the 977 wards where polls were held.
“This major victory is a testament to AAP’s commitment to pro-people governance and transparent politics,” Arora said in a statement.
He also congratulated AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the winning candidates in the election results.
“My heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Bhagwant Mann and all the candidates who won a resounding victory in the Punjab AAP municipal elections.My heartfelt thanks to all the staff for their tireless efforts. “I hope that all of the elected City Council members will continue to dedicate themselves to public service and development,” he said.
“While we performed very well in Patiala and Jalandhar, the results were not completely favorable for smaller companies like Phagwara.
“The Akali Dal and the BJP have been completely wiped out. The illusion of the BJP’s dominance in urban areas has been shattered as people have shown a mirror to them,” Arora said.
Voting began at 7am on Saturday and continued until 4pm under tight security. The average turnout by 3pm was 55%.
More than 3,300 candidates took part in the fray and a total of 3,809 polling stations were set up for the citizen vote.
A total of 37.32 million voters, including 17.75 million women, were eligible to vote in the elections held using electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Among the political leaders who exercised their right to vote were Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tarun Chugh, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Ludhiana MLA Ashok Prashar and Jalandhar Cantt MLA Palghat Singh. there was.
Opposition parties BJP and SAD alleged that fake votes were cast at many places in Patiala on the orders of AAP, but the ruling party denied the charges.
There were also reports of scuffles and violent exchanges between AAP and BJP supporters in Patiala.
Sushil Nayyar, the BJP candidate from Patiala ward 34, alleged that fake votes were being cast at polling booths and threatened to self-immolate.
BJP leader Jai Inder Kaur alleged that some outsiders were roaming in Patiala and demanded police action against them.
After Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nanak Singh arrived at the spot, Kaur and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters were seen arguing with police, and some people were seen entering polling stations without proper authentication. , and claimed to have cast a fake vote.
“No one stopped them. Who is responsible for that?” asked a BJP supporter.
The SSP responded, “Video recording of the vote is underway.”
Earlier, Kaur, daughter of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, had said that despite AAP MLAs Chetan Singh Jawramajula and Gulal Ganaur being outsiders in the 40th ward. , claimed to have existed in this area.
The party has also filed a complaint against Jauramadjira and Gulalal for violating the model code of conduct, seeking registration of an FIR with the State Election Commission.
The BJP also claimed that some miscreants targeted the party candidate in Ward 40 on the orders of AAP.
Even the SAD claimed that its booth in Ward 15 of Patiala was vandalized.
The BJP has also sought registration of an FIR against AAP MLA Garry Walling’s younger brother Mani Walling and AAP supporters for alleged vote fraud in ward 9 in Amroh of Fatehgarh Sahib.
issued – December 22, 2024 2:11 AM IST
