E-Paper
Congress cruises past halfway mark in Amritsar MC elections
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) finished fourth with a mere four seats, even lower than the independents’ tally of five
The Congress party emerged as the clear winner in the municipal corporation (MC) elections in Amritsar, bagging victories on 43 of the 85 seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stood a distant second with 24 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates emerged victorious on nine seats.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) finished fourth with a mere four seats, even lower than the independents’ tally of five. The elections saw a dull response with a turnout of 44%.
In 2017 MC polls, the Congress had secured a majority with 69 seats. Elected on a Congress mandate, Karamjit Singh Rintu took charge as the first Sikh mayor of Amritsar. After the AAP formed a government in the state, he shifted allegiances but remained on the top post. In 2012, the SAD-BJP combine won the Amritsar municipal corporation elections with 48 wards.
Amid high security, the elections in the holy city remained peaceful. Recounting was held in the wards where the margin was narrow, and the results were overturned in some wards.
SAD’s Avtar Singh Truckanwala (SAD) won by a slender margin of two votes in ward number 30.
The AAP was victorious in the bypolls for two wards in Ajnala nagar panchayat and the Congress won the one seat in Gurdaspur municipal council.
In the nagar panchayat polls at Baba Bakala, the AAP secured seven seats, the SAD got three and one seat was won by an independent candidate.
In Rajasansi nagar panchayat elections, the AAP got nine seats, BJP bagged two, and the Congress and the SAD won a seat each.
AAP won he bypoll to one ward of Rayya nagar panchayat and the SAD was victorious in the sole Majitha municipal council seat that went to a by-election.
Led by Congress leader Dinesh Bassi, party workers staged a sit-in in Amritsar East assembly segment against what they said was a ‘delay’ in issuance of certificates to the winning candidates.
The average turnout in municipal council and nagar panchayat elections stood at 63%.
