MC polls: Phagwara, Amritsar only bright spots for Cong

In Amritsar, the party is 6 short of a majority, while it needs the support of three more councillors to elect a mayor in Phagwara

Even though the Congress leadership has been upbeat ever since the civic body elections came, it has in fact lost ground in the majority of urban areas.

Congress claims that in Amritsar, the party has the support of three councillors taking its tally to 43, while in Phagwara, it has secured a majority with three councillors extending support in the 50-seat House.

The BJP’s poor show in the urban areas hasn’t translated into votes or seats for the Congress. The only bright spots for the party are Amritsar and Phagwara, where it has emerged as the single largest party with 40 and 22 councillors, respectively.

Congress claims that in Amritsar, the party has the support of three councillors taking its tally to 43, while in Phagwara, it has secured a majority with three councillors extending support in the 50-seat House.

At Ludhiana, Congress won 30 out of 95 seats and is now said to be in talks with the BJP to keep AAP from taking charge of the civic body. It won only 25 out of 85 seats at Jalandhar, while at Patiala it fared badly with only four out of 53 seats that had gone to polls in the 60-seat House.

Congress won only four out of the 44 municipal committees and panchayats, where polls were conducted.

“Even though leadership is thumping its chest for ‘good results”, but bitter truth is that AAP is the major gainer in terms of the vote bank. If the party is saying that AAP has lost ground, it’s like giving false hope. We lost badly in Jalandhar, Patiala and almost 90% of municipal panchayats. Does leadership have an answer? We had 59 out of 60 councillors in Patiala and now we have only four. It’s time to introspect,” a Congress leader said, pleading anonymity.

Punjab Congress unit chief and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, however, said Congress has put up a stellar show despite pressure tactics and hooliganism by AAP.

“The people of Punjab have unequivocally voted against the misgovernance and arrogance of the ruling government”, said Warring, adding “In Patiala, the AAP government’s desperation was on full display. They cancelled Congress nominations to prevent fair elections.”

Despite AAP’s attempts to suppress the democratic process, Congress achieved remarkable victories across the state, he said.