NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hailed the party’s victory after it won a majority of the urban local bodies in Punjab.In a post on X, Kejriwal took a sharp swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said the people had taken revenge against it. He termed the BJP the “ED party” and accused it of harassing people by conducting raids on small traders in Punjab.”Heartfelt thanks to the people of Punjab for the spectacular victory of the Aam Aadmi Party 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,” Kejriwal 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,” he added.Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also expressed happiness over AAP winning a “sizable number of wards” and leading in many others in the civic body elections, saying people had defeated the “opposition’s politics of hatred” and supported the ruling party’s developmental politics. “People of Punjab have defeated politics of hatred and supported developmental politics. They have rejected parties which indulge in divisive politics,” Mann said.”Standing in queues in hot weather, people came out to cast their vote,” he added.AAP achieved an impressive victory in 102 civic bodies by winning 862 of the 1,765 wards counted so far. A total of 1,977 wards went to the polls on May 26.Congress emerged a distant second by winning 348 seats. Independents came third with 242 wards, more than the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which won 169 wards. Meanwhile, the BJP and the BSP won 138 and six wards, respectively.These elections are being seen as a litmus test for the ruling party ahead of the assembly polls scheduled for early 2027.Elections to 102 municipal bodies comprising 1,897 wards across eight municipal corporations — Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala and Pathankot — along with 75 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats, were held using ballot papers on May 26, recording a turnout of 63.94 per cent.A total of 7,554 candidates were in the fray for the local body elections. Out of the 1,977 wards, candidates in 80 wards were elected unopposed.
