Punjab local body polls: AAP’s tsunami, BJP plants seeds for rural presence, Congress falters and a SAD comeback

CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s countryside has delivered a striking verdict, just over a year before the assembly elections. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has stamped its authority over the state’s rural landscape, winning 218 of 347 zila parishad zones (62.8%) and 1,531 of 2,838 panchayat samiti zones (53.9%). In total, the ruling party claimed 1,749 of 3,185 rural seats — a clear signal that its appeal now runs deep in villages once considered Congress territory. The scale of AAP’s triumph was evident in districts such as Hoshiarpur, where it won 22 of 25 zila parishad zones, and Amritsar, where it captured 19 of 24. Its dominance extended to Patiala and Tarn Taran, while panchayat samiti contests in Amritsar and Hoshiarpur saw it sweep 148 of 195 zones and 143 of 208 zones, respectively.For the BJP, the rural elections were a tentative foray rather than a breakthrough. Winning only seven zila parishad seats and 73 panchayat samiti zones, its gains were limited to Pathankot, Fazilka, and Hoshiarpur. Yet, the party left no village untouched, distributing publicity materials and planting seeds for a rural presence it had long lacked. In Pathankot, it won four of 10 zila parishad zones, a modest foothold amid AAP and Congress dominance. The razor-thin margins told another story of high-stakes contests.Arvind Kejriwal said, “There were 580 seats where the winning margin was less than 100 votes. Of these, 261 have gone to AAP and 319 to opposition parties. If AAP misused official machinery, all these seats would have been in AAP’s pocket. But we wanted a fair election to gauge the voters’ mood.” In Sangrur, the Phagwala zila parishad went to Congress by just five votes; in Fatehgarh Sahib, Lakhanpur was won by three votes. Congress faced a harsh reality check. Its faction-ridden state unit managed just 62 zila parishad seats and 612 panchayat samiti zones. In Bathinda and Mansa, it failed to win a single zila parishad zone. Its home turf in Muktsar and other strongholds like Amritsar, Faridkot, Moga, and Tarn Taran offered no solace. Only Gurdaspur and Ludhiana delivered modest relief, with eight zila parishad wins each. Amid this shifting political landscape, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) staged a symbolic comeback. Victories in Behbal Khurd and Sarawan, villages linked to the 2015 sacrilege protests that claimed two lives, offered a morale boost. But memories run deep. Sukhraj Singh, son of slain protester Krishan Bhagwan Singh, criticised the result, “Even as people are unhappy with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, allowing Akali Dal victory is not right. People should have thought twice before voting for the party responsible for the killing of two protesters, including my father.” SAD leaders, however, welcomed the wins as redemption. Suba Singh Badal said: “We have been saying from the beginning that the Akali Dal govt had nothing to do with the sacrilege incident. We were wrongly blamed, and now people have realised it. Victories at Behbal and Sarawan will open the gates for the party to make inroads in the state again.”