AAP Wins Mayoral Seats in Four Punjab Municipal Corporations. The Aam Aadmi Party has managed to get its mayors elected in four of the five Municipal Corporations that went to polls in December, after over a month of political jostling. AAP emerged victorious in Amritsar on Monday, besides winning mayoral seats in Patiala, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar.
However, the party had a setback when it failed to garner enough numbers at Phagwara. This cause mayoral elections, which were scheduled for the Saturday, to be delayed. Citing the internal conflicts the councillors had and the fear of law and order situations, the official sources explained why this would take some more time.
The municipal elections, held on December 21, saw AAP win a clear majority only in the Patiala Municipal Corporation. Though it emerged as the largest faction in Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the party fell short of a majority in both cities. In Amritsar and Phagwara, Congress secured the maximum number of seats. Since the municipal elections of Punjab are exempt from the Anti-Defection Law, councillors switching their allegiance to the ruling party have become a frequent phenomenon.
The AAP’s win in these mayoral polls has political relevance as the party prepares for a fiercely contested Delhi Assembly election. If the party takes control of key municipal bodies in Punjab, it will empower the party to expand its political narrative and exhibit its governance model.
The elections were also a test for AAP’s state president, Aman Arora, whose leadership was questioned. Arora, along with Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Harbhajan Singh ETO in Amritsar, and senior party leader Deepak Bali in Jalandhar, played pivotal roles in securing these victories. Party insiders acknowledged that the coordination among these leaders proved instrumental in ensuring success across multiple corporations.
