Punjab Local Body Poll Results: Only 1,003 BJP candidates contested this time.
Chandigarh:
The Congress party today made a clean sweep of Punjab’s seven municipal corporations in polls of local state bodies. The match bagged all the bodies for which the results were declared today: Moga, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Pathankot, Batala and Bathinda, the latter being also the most impressive result of the day, as it was after 53 years that the city He was returning to the fold of Congress. Mohali’s results will only be released tomorrow.
The Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Harsimrat Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), who recently parted ways with his longtime ally BJP following riots sparked among state farmers by the Center’s three new farm laws.
The MLA of Congress and the state finance minister, Manpreet Singh Badal, represents the seat of the Bathinda urban assembly. He is also a cousin of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, making the ballot box a prestigious battle this time.
History has been made today!
Bathinda will get a mayor of Congress for the first time in 53 years!
Thank you to ALL the residents of Bathinda.Congratulations to the people of Bathinda for a spectacular victory.
Congratulations to all the Congressional candidates and workers who have worked hard for this day. pic.twitter.com/Xvczq5MjfU– Manpreet Singh Badal (@MSBADAL) February 17, 2021
The emerging scenario can be seen as a major setback for the BJP, as it was seen as a grassroots party of urban voters and had been in alliance with the SAD until outraged farmers across the states changed the dynamic in recent months.
Up to 109 city councils and nagar panchayats and seven municipal corporations went to the polls on February 14, witnessing a 71.39 percent turnout amid a furious protest led by state farmers against three new central laws.
Yesterday a new vote was held in some booths, the results of which will also be announced today. The voting panel has also ordered to vote again today at positions 32 and 33 of the Mohali municipal corporation between 8 am and 4 pm. Therefore, the count for that corporation will take place only tomorrow.
Up to 9,222 candidates are in the fray overall. Of these, the independents make up the majority with 2,832; Congress has the highest number of contestants among official parties with 2,037; their candidate Muktsar has already won unopposed. The BJP, which is facing a fire on the farm law front, has sent just 1,003. The party is competing without its Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) alliance this time. The SAD itself has 1,569 candidates.
Of the 2,215 districts in the computation, up to 1,480 are of general category, while 610 are in the Programmed Caste and 125 in the Backward Caste segments.
The Punjab State Election Commission yesterday ordered the deputy commissioners to appoint microobservers for the vote counting of sensitive and hypersensitive wars.
Opposition parties have accused the ruling Congress of “taking booths” and “indulging in violence,” according to a PTI report.
The elections were held amid thousands of farmers from the state, along with many from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, camping around Delhi since November in protest against the central laws. More than 150 protesters have died so far due to various reasons, including bad weather and suicide.
The protest erupted into violence on January 26 and has since gained international attention.
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