Cong wins big in Punjab polls, BJP huge loser

February 17, 2021 14:10

The Congress party today put up a spectacular show in the Punjab local body elections. Even as counting proceeded, the party had won six of the seven municipal corporations by a little after noon. These were Moga, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Pathankot, and Bathinda. Congress won Bhatinda after 53 years.

The Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency is represented by Harsimrat Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which only recently parted ways with long-time ally BJP following the unrest kicked up among the state's farmers by the Centre's three new farm laws.

The counting of votes started at 9 am for elections to 2,302 wards of eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils in the state. The Congress has won the municipal corporations of Bathinda, Moga, Hoshiarpur and Pathankot, officials said. It is leading in Batala, Kapurthala and Abohar.

The State Election Commission had ordered on Tuesday repolling at two polling booths of the Mohali Municipal Corporation. Therefore, the counting for the entire civic body will take place on Thursday. Tight security arrangements have been made at the counting centres, they further said.

Over 70 per cent voting was recorded in the civic body elections on February 14. A total of 9,222 candidates were in the fray, of which 2,832 were independents, 2,037 from the ruling Congress and 1,569 from the Shiromani Akali Dal. The BJP, AAP and the BSP had fielded 1,003, 1,606 and 160 candidates respectively. The BJP and the Akali Dal, which walked out of the National Democratic Alliance last year over the farm laws issue, have fought the elections separately.

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