Punjab: Congress said that the party is getting stronger in urban areas

Punjab: While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won the biggest victory in the municipal corporation elections, Punjab Congress leaders on Sunday claimed that the party still has its hold among the urban voters as it has won 121 wards in five municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana and Patiala, while the AAP got victory in 158 wards. Results of 368 wards have been declared out of a total of 375 wards in the five municipal corporations. Earlier, the Congress was in majority in four municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana and Patiala, before they were dissolved. Congress leaders said that the poor performance of the AAP in the Sangrur Municipal Council is a proof of the declining popularity of the ruling party, as the area is called the political capital of the AAP. PPCC chief Amrinder Raja Waring and Congress Legislature Party leader Pratap Bajwa said that despite misuse of government machinery, the Congress has got the biggest victory in Amritsar and Phagwara municipal corporations. Ludhiana MP Waring claimed that the party will have mayors in Amritsar and Phagwara. He said the party has won 41 wards in the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, while it won 30 wards. Bajwa said that despite being in power, urban voters have not given AAP an absolute majority, which shows that there is an anti-incumbency wave. In Jalandhar, the party has not performed well in the wards falling in the assembly constituencies of MLAs Pargat Singh and Avtar Singh Junior Henry. The Congress Legislative Party leader said the party could have performed better in Jalandhar. The party has won 25 wards in Jalandhar, while AAP won 38 wards. Refuting the claim of increased acceptability of BJP in urban areas, both the leaders said that urban voters have chosen Congress instead of the saffron party. In Patiala, the PPCC chief said that more than 40 candidates of the party were not allowed to file nominations and this affected the results. Meanwhile, the party has got majority in 66 municipal councils or nagar panchayats, while the AAP has got majority in 357.