Just before the Punjab elections, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made its debut in Chandigarh today, winning the most seats in the municipal elections and pushing BJP to second place. Arvind Kejriwal said that Chandigarh’s result marks a change in Punjab, and a new government will be voted for early next year.
AAP won 14 of the 35 municipal seats, followed by the People’s Party with 12 seats. Congress won eight seats, while Akalidar maintained one of the previous seats. The elections were held in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana on Friday.
“AAP’s victory in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shows that Punjab is about to change. People reject corrupt politics and choose AAP…Punjab is ready to change,” Mr. Kejriwal said on Twitter. The Chief Minister of Delhi has been actively fighting for Punjab elections.
“The Chandigarh election is a trailer, and Punjab will be the whole movie. Chandigarh’s mood is Punjabi’s mood,” added AAP’s Raghav Chadha.
The People’s Party suffered a huge setback, and its mayor Ravi Kant Sharma and former mayor Davids Mudgil were defeated by AAP candidates. Chander Mukhi Sharma, the chairman of the AAP Campaign Committee, lost the election.
Naresh Arora, spokesperson for the BJP Chandigarh, said: “Only the final result will show which party’s vote base has switched to AAP, because BJP voters have never changed their loyalty.”
Chandigarh had 26 seats in previous citizen elections. This time, some villages were moved from Gram Panchayat to the city’s citizenship agency.
In the most recent opinion poll, the BJP won 20 seats (77% of the seats), and its then ally Akali Dahl had only one seat. BJP-Akali Dal’s rival Congress won four seats (15%). Earlier this year, BJP and Akali Dal fell out due to farmers’ protests.
Traditionally, the Chandigarh referendum held every five years is a direct competition between the BJP and the National Assembly. The AAP entry changes this. In just a few weeks, the high-stakes elections in Punjab Province are approaching. It has become a four-party contest between the AAP, BJP, Congress and the Akali Dal-BSP alliance.
Comment
When it debuted, AAP occupied 40% of the seats. The BJP’s share has dropped to 43%. However, Congress has increased its share of seats to 23%.
Complete News Source : NDTV