Punjab municipal election results, a rude jolt to BJP

The total rout of the saffron party in the Punjab municipal elections must be seen as an unequivocal repudiation of the NDA government’s controversial farm laws

From the epicentre of the ongoing farmers’ protests comes a strong message, the one that must ring alarm bells in the BJP camp. The total rout of the saffron party in the Punjab municipal elections must be seen as an unequivocal repudiation of the NDA government’s controversial farm laws that have triggered widespread concerns, particularly in Punjab and Haryana. Riding high on the wave of goodwill earned by its support to the stir, the Congress has swept the polls, bagging six out of seven municipal corporations and nearly 100 out of 109 municipal councils. While the Shiromani Akali Dal, which had walked out of the NDA alliance over the farm laws, stood a distant second, the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP were pushed to the fringes. The writing on the wall was clear for the BJP from the beginning. The shadow of the farmers’ stir — that has a groundswell of support from all sections— loomed over the election campaigning as the saffron party and its workers faced public wrath. Sensing the public mood, the SAD had severed its ties with the BJP and lent its support to the farmers. In the neighbouring Haryana too, the BJP had to face the farmers’ wrath when it lost two of the three mayoral seats and all three posts of municipal committee president in December. Bucking the general trend of the ruling party emerging as the winner in the urban local body polls, the political shift in Haryana was a pointer to the saffron party losing ground.

Now, the Punjab poll outcome has dashed any hopes of the BJP making a comeback in the State. The outcome, ahead of the Assembly polls due next year, would serve as a booster for Capt Amarinder Singh, the Congress strongman who is aiming for another term as the Chief Minister. The BJP, which went alone for the first time in the State, stood last, losing badly even in its strongholds. The Congress got a clear majority even in the BJP stronghold areas like Gurdaspur and Pathankot. In Moga, the ruling party has emerged as the single largest party and is expected to secure the support of Independents. Apart from the BJP, the other two contenders for power—SAD and AAP—need to learn lessons from the results and recalibrate their strategies to earn public support ahead of the Assembly elections. Though the SAD stood a distant second, it barely managed to win more seats than Independents. It has been a big disappointment for the AAP, seen as a serious contender for power in the State not long ago. It lost badly even in key areas, including MP Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur.

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