Cong clean sweep, but Patiala hit by violence in civic polls

PATIALA/JALANDHAR/AMRITSAR/BATHINDA: The ruling Congress swept the elections for municipal corporations in Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar and for 29 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab held on Sunday. Voting was mostly peaceful, but was marred by several incidents of violence that led to police lathicharge in many wards of Patiala.
The highest poll percentage of over 62.22% was registered in Patiala, the assembly constituency of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.Poll percentage in Jalandhar was 58% and in Amritsar, it was 52%.
The Congress won in 20 out of 29 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. No elections were held for three municipal councils or nagar panchayats which elected their councillors unopposed. An official spokesperson said out of total 414 wards the Congress has won in 267, Shiromani Akali Dal in 37, BJP in 15, AAP in 1 and independents in 94 wards.
The ruling Congress performed well in Jalandhar as it won 65 of 80 wards in the municipal corporation and SAD-BJP combine was reduced to 13 wards. The Aam Aadmi Party cut a sorry figure with no wins, but Independents won in 2 wards.
In Amritsar, Congress won with 64 wards in the 85-ward municipal corporation. The SAD-BJP combine trailed far behind with 13 wards and others managed to win in eight wards.
In the Patiala municipal corporation, the Congress routed the opposition parties and won 59 of the 60 wards. The state election commission ordered re-poll in Patiala MC’s Booth No. 3 of Ward No. 37 after receiving a complaint from the returning officer and election observer about an electronic voting machine (EVM) being damaged. The re-poll will take place on December 19, an election commission spokesperson said, adding that the returning officer has also lodged an FIR about the incident.
Voting in Patiala was marred by claims of violence and protests by the opposition parties — Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party.
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SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party would approach the Punjab and Haryana high court and demand a CBI probe. The party also demanded immediate dismissal of state election commissioner Jagpal Singh Sandhu for lowering the dignity of high office. Badal, the former deputy chief minister, added if Sandhu had any self-respect, he would immediately tender his resignation for betraying public faith in the office of election commissioner.
He alleged the state election commissioner did not act when his party leaders were attacked and fired upon at Manawala in Ferozepur and false cases were registered against them by the police. Sandhu also turned a blind eye to violence incidents at Baghapurana and Ghanaur though the SAD submitted photographic and videographic proof of those incidents, Badal claimed.
“Now today he (Sandhu) has refused to act when the law and order machinery is being used by Congressmen to attack Akali-BJP workers and indulge in largescale rigging across the state, especially so in Patiala, the home town of chief minister Amarinder Singh,” said Badal.
Senior SAD leaders marched towards the chief minister’s the private residence — new Moti Bagh Palace and held a protest outside for over two hours. SAD general secretary and Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra demanded that elections in Patiala should be cancelled in view of the violence.
In Patiala, there were also reports that some voters had been turned back from the polling booths without getting a chance to cast their votes.
The SAD and AAP leaders held protests against the Amarinder Singh government in wards 8, 14, 38 and 39 and there were reports of violence and booth capturing from wards 20, 27, 35, 49, and 50.
In ward 14, three shops and three vehicles were damaged and there were reports SAD candidate Jaspal Singh Bittu Chatha had opened fire in the air during the election process. The police had to resort to lathicharge in this ward during which one of the woman journalists of a local TV channel and another journalist of a vernacular daily were injured.
In ward 53, sitting Akali mayor Amarinder Singh Bazaz was allegedly thrashed by Congress activists and his turban was also tossed in the melee. He was allegedly manhandled when he tried to stop people from casting bogus votes and his turban fell on the road.
Patiala deputy commissioner Kumar Amit who had been taking rounds of various wards across the city said all efforts were being made to ensure free and fair polls. He said he had received a few complaints which were being looked into.
The Congress also swept nagar panchayat/ municipal council elections, but failed to win a majority in Begowal and Bolath in Kapurthala, Khanauri in Sangrur and Bhikhi in Mansa. It failed to open account at Bhogpur in Jalandhar, at Moonak in Sangrur, and at Balachaur in SBS Nagar — where all wards were won by Independents and others.
Welcoming the verdict, Capt. Amarinder said the people of Punjab had not forgotten the misrule of Akalis and have handed them a crushing defeat in the local bodies’ elections too. “People of Punjab have once again shown their political maturity and defeated the SAD-BJP combine and AAP, both of which had been completely wiped into oblivion from the electoral landscape of the State,” he said.
“As far as the AAP was concerned, it had come to Punjab like a summer storm but had been completely decimated, with no apparent hope of revival,” he said. “The victory for the Congress in the local bodies’ elections, which many political pundits and even the media had described as a litmus test for the party, clearly showed that the government was on the right track and the people were more than satisfied with its achievements of the past nine months,” he said.