Chandigarh, May 29: The Aam Aadmi Party has trounced its political rivals in a multi-cornered contest, moving toward a historic performance in the Punjab general elections to 103 local bodies. By the conclusion of the afternoon counting session for 1,349 wards, the ruling party had claimed 904 seats, representing a major victory for Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s administration.
The scale of the victory was clearest in the Dhuri Municipal Council, where the opposition was almost entirely wiped out. The ruling party claimed 20 out of the 21 total wards in the constituency, leaving just a single seat to rivals.
“The outcomes from the districts demonstrate a significant consolidation of support,” maintained a state political analyst tracking the data.
Behind the ruling party’s 904 seats, the final tallies distributed the remaining municipal wards among several factions. The Congress party secured 364 seats, while unaffiliated independent candidates won 247 seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal captured 183 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party took 162 seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party won seven seats.
The massive democratic exercise brought 2,238,241 voters to the polling stations, registering an overall turnout of about 64 percent. The election finalized the representation for eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils, and 19 nagar panchayats. Among these was the historic first corporation election for Barnala, which will now see councilors take office across 50 brand-new corporation wards.
To manage the extensive counting process safely, authorities set up 115 counting centers protected by multi-layered security cordons across 23 districts. While the fates of thousands of candidates were decided through active balloting, 80 individuals had already entered office unopposed during the earlier phases of the election. This civic election follows a similar local government polling cycle managed by the state in December 2024, which covered five municipal corporations and 41 municipal councils.
