AAP's bittersweet victory in rural body polls; SAD gains ground, sweeps Bathinda district
PTC News Desk: In a mixed outcome, Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a sweeping win in the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections held on Sunday, but the victory was marred by setbacks for several senior leaders who failed to ensure wins for party candidates in their own villages.
Among the prominent AAP leaders whose home turf did not deliver victories were Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan (Sandhwan village), Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian (Khudian), MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal (Manjhi village), MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Kurar village), chief spokesperson Kuldeep Dhaliwal (Jagdev Kalan), MLAs Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana (Maiserkhana), Master Jagsir Singh (Chak Fatehsinghwala), Kulwant Singh Pandori (Pandori), and chief whip with cabinet rank Baljinder Kaur (Jaga Ram Tirath).
While Congress candidates prevailed in Manjhi and Pandori, AAP nominees in the other villages were defeated by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). In a striking result, AAP managed to secure just one vote in Loham village of Ferozepur, while in Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s native village of Satauj, the BJP received only a single vote.
Historically, rural local body elections have tended to favour the party in power. In the last three such polls, the Akali-BJP alliance emerged victorious in 2008 and 2013, while the Congress dominated the 2018 elections during its tenure in office. This time, the polls are being closely watched as a precursor to the 2027 Vidhan Sabha elections, which are just 14 months away.
- PTC NEWS
