Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party has registered a strong performance in the Punjab civic body elections, giving the ruling party a major political boost ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann described the results as an endorsement of his government’s work and said the people had voted for development and positive politics.
According to reports, AAP secured a commanding lead across urban local bodies, including municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats. In the eight municipal corporations that went to polls, the party was ahead or in a winning position in six. These included Barnala, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda, Abohar and Batala. Congress was leading in Kapurthala, while the BJP was ahead in Pathankot.
The party also performed strongly in municipal council elections. In Gidderbaha, considered an influential area for Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, AAP won all 13 wards counted at the time of the report, making it one of the most discussed results of the day.
Reacting to the trends and results, Mann said the mandate was not for him personally but for the work done by the Aam Aadmi Party government. He claimed that in several places, parties such as the Akali Dal and BJP could not even find candidates. He also congratulated independent and opposition candidates who contested the polls.
Mann took a sharp dig at opposition parties over questions raised on the election process. Responding to demands for ballot paper voting and allegations around EVMs, he asked whether elections should now be decided by a toss. He said the Congress has a habit of questioning EVMs wherever it loses.
The Chief Minister also claimed that AAP could win nearly 1,000 seats, saying the party had already won about 890 seats while results for many wards were still awaited. He added that even if the seats won by Congress, BJP and Akali Dal were combined, they would not match AAP’s tally.
Polling was held on May 26 across Punjab’s civic bodies, with thousands of candidates in the fray. The results are being seen as a crucial test of public mood before the next Assembly election. For AAP, the civic poll performance strengthens its claim that its governance model still enjoys strong support in the state’s urban and semi urban areas.