Chandigarh: The ruling Aam Aadmi Party registered an emphatic victory in the rural body elections in Punjab, winning 63 per cent zones of zila parishads and 54 per cent zones of panchayat samitis.
According to the results of elections declared on Thursday, the Congress secured the second spot, while the Shiromani Akali Dal got the third. The BJP was at the fourth position in the rural polls.
As the AAP outpaced Congress, the Akali Dal and the BJP by wide margins, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the verdict left no room for misreading the public mood, calling the outcome a “reminder of the responsibility and humility with which his government must continue to serve the people of Punjab”.
Meanwhile, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said his party’s strong showing in the elections showed that people in rural areas put their stamp of approval on the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
Complete results of the polls came on Thursday after the completion of counting of ballot papers, which began on Tuesday.
Polling was held on December 14 to elect members for 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis.
In zila parishad, AAP registered victory in 218 zones, while the Congress won 62 zones.
The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD got 46 zones, BJP seven, BSP three and Independents 10.
In case of panchayat samitis, AAP won 1,531 zones, while the Congress secured 612 and SAD 445 zones. The BJP registered victory in 73 zones and the BSP in 28 zones. Independents won 144 zones, according to the result.
Reacting to the result, Kejriwal said it showed that there was a wave in favour of his party in the state.
“It shows that people in rural areas have put their stamp of approval on works undertaken by the AAP government under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann,” he said as he spoke about anti-drug drive, canal water reaching fields after a “gap of 75 years”, free electricity, and government jobs on merit basis.
Kejriwal also vehemently rejected the Opposition’s accusations of “high-handedness” in the polling and asserted that the elections were conducted in fair and free manner.
Though the poll results showed a resounding victory of the ruling party in rural areas, the Congress and SAD also challenged AAP at some of the zones.
The poll results suggested that the Congress gave a tough fight to the ruling party in SBS Nagar, Rupnagar, Ferozepur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana while SAD made its presence felt in Muktsar, Faridkot and Bathinda.
In zila parishads, the Congress secured six zones out of 10 in SBS Nagar, five out of 10 in Rupnagar, six out of 14 in Ferozepur, seven out of 21 in Jalandhar, and eight out of 25 in Ludhiana.
In panchayat samitis, the grand old party got 34 out of 82 zones in SBS Nagar, 50 out of 93 in Rupnagar, 61 out of 188 in Jalandhar and 73 out of 235 in Ludhiana.
SAD showed strong performance in the zila parishad of Bathinda where it won 13 out of 17 zones, seven out of 13 in Muktsar and five out of 10 in Faridkot.
In panchayat samitis, the Badal-led outfit won 79 zones out of 137 in Bathinda, 25 of 65 in Faridkot and 48 of 95 in Muktsar, the results showed.
The BJP won three zones of Fazilka zila parishad and four in Pathankot zila parishad.
Meanwhile, the candidates backed by gangster-turned-politician Gurmeet Singh Sekhon won the Bajidpur and Ferozeshah zones in Ferozepur. These candidates were also supported by SAD.