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Rural body polls: Congress number 2, but drubbing in key bastions a worry
Reacting to the results, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday alleged that the ruling AAP was “basking in the stolen glory” as it had “looted and robbed” the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections.
The Congress, which is aiming to return to power in the 2027 assembly polls in the state, failed to make an impact, exposing significant organisational weaknesses.
In the block samiti, the Congress won 612 of 2,838 seats, far below the expectations for a party that has traditionally been a dominant political force in the state.
The party’s performance was largely underwhelming across Punjab, with the exception of Rupnagar and SBS Nagar, the only two districts where Congress outperformed the ruling AAP. Notably, Rupnagar is the home district of former chief minister Charanjit Channi and former speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh.
In Rupnagar, Congress secured 50 seats against AAP’s 37, while in SBS Nagar, the party clinched 33 seats compared to AAP’s 29.
Congress also put up a strong fight in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana and SAS Nagar, though without major breakthroughs.
However, the outcome in Malwa was particularly disappointing, and the most glaring setback came in Muktsar, the home district of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, where the party managed to win only nine of the 95 seats.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) dominated with 48 seats, while AAP secured 38.
The trend continued in Bathinda, another politically significant region in Malwa, where Congress won just 16 seats against SAD’s 79 and AAP’s 35. In Mansa, the Congress secured only six seats, while SAD won 33 and AAP bagged 36.
The zila parishad results mirrored the poor block samiti performance in Malwa. Congress failed to open its account in Bathinda and Mansa, while in Muktsar, it won just one seat out of 13. In Gurdaspur district, home district of Congress heavyweights and leader of opposition Partap Bajwa and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Randhawa, the party won 65 out of 204 seats of block samitis against 124 of AAP. In the zila parishad, out of 25 seats, the Congress won eight seats against 17 won by the AAP.
Reacting to the results, Raja Warring on Thursday alleged that the ruling AAP was “basking in the stolen glory” as it had “looted and robbed” the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections.
In a statement, he said, despite the AAP government’s “high-handedness and abuse of power”, the Congress candidates managed to do reasonably well.
“If the Congress could provide such an impressive fight when the odds were heavily against us, imagine what we can achieve once it will be the level playing field during 2027,” he noted, while expressing confidence that the Congress will stage a comeback.
Warring said these elections have marked the beginning of the end for the ruling AAP.
“Even the AAP leaders know the reality of these elections, just because they cannot admit it publicly”, he added.
BJP fails to make inroads
Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had once again failed to make a significant impact in the rural polls, with the party struggling even in its traditional bastions.
In the zila parishad polls, the BJP could win only seven out of 347 seats, while in the block samitis, the party secured 73 seats out of the total 2,838.
Among block samitis, BJP’s best performance was said to be in Fazilka and Pathankot-home districts of state party chief Sunil Jakhar and working president Ashwani Sharma. In the Abohar district, the BJP won three zila parishad seats, whereas three seats have come from Pathankot district, including one from Pathankot constituency and two in Sujanpur.
Out of the total 73 block samiti seats won by the BJP, 30 seats have come from these areas. In the rest of the areas traditionally contested by the BJP, the party failed miserably. In the Dasuya and Mukerian, the BJP could win five seats of block samitis.
“It’s a setback for us when we are claiming to contest all assembly seats in the upcoming 2027 polls. It’s a fact that state government machinery pressure was there, but results have shown us in very poor light,” admitted a senior BJP leader from the Doaba region.
It is the second back-to-back setback for the BJP in the rural areas, as the party had lost miserably in the recently held Tarn Taran bypoll. The saffron party secured only 6,229 votes in a constituency largely dominated by Panthic issues and Sikh voters and lost its deposit.
Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma said his party, despite unprecedented use of government machinery, has managed to leave a mark.
“The biggest gain for us in these polls is that we have been able to mark our presence in those areas which were considered inaccessible to us. BJP booths and the party symbol has reached all rural areas, and we are no longer a party of urban areas,” Sharma said.
