Punjab rejects divisive politics: Bhagwant Mann as AAP scores big in civic polls

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday praised AAP’s strong performance in the civic body polls, saying people had rejected the Opposition’s “politics of hatred” and backed the ruling party’s development agenda. As counting continued, the ruling AAP had won more than 860 wards out of 1,977 and was leading in several others across the state.

Addressing mediapersons in Chandigarh, Mann said the results reflected public support for the developmental works undertaken by the AAP government over the past four-and-a-half years.

“The people of Punjab have defeated the politics of hatred and supported developmental politics. They have rejected parties which indulge in divisive politics,” he said.

Mann took a swipe at political commentators, saying every election since AAP formed the government had been described as a “semi-final” ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. “If this is the mood of the people after four-and-a-half years of our government, then one can understand what the result of the 2027 Assembly polls will be,” he said.

The Chief Minister said AAP would cross the 1,000-ward mark once the final results were declared.

He thanked voters for turning out in large numbers despite the heat and said the civic poll outcome once again showed that the “pulse of Punjab” remained in favour of AAP. “These are not the first elections after we came to power in 2022. We won panchayat polls, Assembly bypolls and the Lok Sabha by-election too,” he added.

Targeting the BJP, Mann called it the “ED party” and alleged that central agencies were used to target AAP leaders and ministers.

“They took seven of our Rajya Sabha members into their fold and tried to create a narrative that AAP would break. But people have rejected such politics,” he said. His comments were in reference to Raghav Chadha and six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who quit the party and joined the BJP last month.

Mann also said that over 1,100 BJP candidates had forfeited their security deposits in the civic polls. “The Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP together cannot cross the number of wards we have won,” he asserted.

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also congratulated AAP's strong show and said the Mann government "will continue to do good work in the same way in the future."

"Heartfelt thanks to the people of Punjab for the spectacular victory of AAP in the urban areas of Punjab. Congratulations to everyone. By casting this historic vote, the people have applauded the work of the Bhagwant Mann government. We will continue to do good work in the same way in the future," he said in a video.

Taking a dig at the BJP, he said, "The ED party has been wiped out. The ED party, which harassed people by conducting so many raids on small traders in Punjab, has today been avenged by the people."

Despite the AAP wave, Congress stunned the party by winning 31 seats in the Kapurthala Municipal Corporation. AAP won 11 seats, while the BJP and SAD secured three seats each. Two seats went to others.

Polling for 102 municipal bodies, including eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats, was held on May 26 using ballot papers. The elections recorded a voter turnout of 63.94 per cent.

The civic polls, seen as politically significant ahead of next year’s Assembly election, witnessed 7,554 candidates contesting across the state. Candidates in 80 wards were elected unopposed.