AAP Wins in Panjab District & Block Polls, Lessons for Other Parties

The Panjab Zila Parishad (District Council, ZP) and Panchayat Samiti (Block Council, PS) poll results were declared on 17 Dec. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 218 of the 347 ZP zones and 1,529 of the 2,834 PS zones. The Indian National Congress (INC) won 62 ZP and 611 PS zones. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won 46 ZP and 449 PS zones. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won seven ZP and 73 PS zones. A few key AAP leaders whose candidates lost were: Panjab Legislative Assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, AAP Member of Parliament Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Members of Legislative Assembly: Narinder Kaur Bharaj, Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana, Master Jagseer Singh, Baljinder Kaur, and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal. Though the INC won the entire Chamkaur Sahib block, it accused the AAP of 'misuse of machinery' an allegation that may hold some truth. In a system where the ruling party can sanction funds for villages, voters cast their votes to benefit their villages. Meanwhile in southern Panjab, after being immensely popular in rural Panjab for decades to being plagued by factionalism and infighting, SAD won its traditional stronghold. The party spokesperson claimed that the results showed the party was 'inching towards victory in the 2027 Assembly polls'. However, the party’s support to gangster-related faces such as Amritpal Bath and Gurpreet Sekhon is a matter of concern, to which a political analyst has said, 'The strategy could provide immediate benefits to border areas, but would limit party expansion in the future.' The poll results also renewed the buzz over a possible alliance between the SAD and the BJP. A senior BJP leader said, 'The results show that Captain Amarinder was right in suggesting that the BJP needs the SAD to form a stable government in 2027. Many in the BJP did not like his remark but the results say it all.' The most unlikely fallout was in the breakaway SAD. Breakaway SAD leader Manpreet Singh Ayali had backed candidates without their leader Giani Harpeet Singh’s face on the poster and claimed he does not belong to any party. Ayali’s candidates won and Giani Harpreet has offered his resignation which has not been accepted yet (earlier coverage).