E-Paper
Congress sweeps Gurdaspur civic polls; Dinanagar, Qadian return hung houses
The results marked a setback for the ruling AAP, which failed to secure a majority in any of the three municipal councils in Gurdaspur district
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered setbacks in the municipal council elections in Gurdaspur district on Saturday, with Congress registering a dominant victory in the Gurdaspur municipal council, while Dinanagar and Qadian returned hung houses.
The results stood in contrast to the May 26 municipal elections across Punjab, where AAP had emerged as the bigger winner, bagging 958 of the 1,977 wards contested in 102 urban local bodies, including eight municipal corporations.
Voting began at 8 am and continued till 4 pm. Unlike polling through ballot papers on May 26, with results coming out on May 29, the elections on Saturday were conducted using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and winners were declared the same day.
Of the 29 wards in Gurdaspur municipal council, Congress comfortably won 21, while AAP secured seven and an independent candidate won one seat. The elections were contested by the Congress under the leadership of MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra, with 60.64% voters showing up.
In Dinanagar, represented by Congress MLA Aruna Chaudhary, Congress clinched seven wards, while AAP won six and BJP secured one seat, resulting in a hung house. A voter turnout of 64.88% was recorded here.
Qadian, represented by Punjab leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, also returned a fractured verdict. Though the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) landed six of the 15 wards, it fell short of the numbers required for a majority. Congress won four wards, AAP two and BJP one, while two independent candidates also emerged victorious. Voter turnout stood at 70.95%.
