On Capt’s home turf, Cong batters Oppn

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 22

The Congress swept the rural body elections by winning all 25 zila parishad and 181 panchayat samiti seats in Patiala district on Saturday. Of 25 zila parishad seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to bag even a single seat. The SAD had fielded 21 candidates while AAP had nominated 12 candidates.

Of 193 seats in the nine panchayat samiti zones in the district, the Congress won 181 seats while the SAD could win only 10 seats. The BJP could win only one seat from Shambu Kalan. Its candidate Ishwer Devi defeated the Congress nominee by 251 votes. Facing internal bickering, AAP, a first timer, could not win even a single seat. One seat was won by an independent candidate.  

The Congress hailed the poll results, terming it as the victory of government policies and the defeat of the propaganda by the Opposition. However, the SAD accused the state government of using strong-arm tactics to achieve the victory.

Prominent winners

Among the prominent winners from the Congress Party were Satnam Singh, son of Shutrana MLA Nirmal Singh from the Arnetu zone and Gagandeep Jalalpur, son of MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur from the Harpalpur zone. SAD candidate Gurjant Singh surprised everyone as he registered victory from the Jalalpur zone. In fact, the Jalalpur zone in Sanaur is considered a stronghold of Congress MLA Madan Singh Jalalpur. In Bhunerheri block, Gurmeet Singh registered an emphatic win over SAD candidate Sher Singh Panjetha, who is a sitting sarpanch.   

Repolling makes no dent   

The Congress has won both seats where repolling was ordered due to booth capturing and poll rigging. At Bakshiwala village in the Jassowal zone, Congress candidate Urmila defeated SAD nominee Pawan Preet Kaur. At Khuda village in the Fatehpur Rajputan zone, Congress candidate Kulwinder Kaur defeated SAD’s Gurjit Kaur. 

Embarrassment for SAD 

The SAD faced a major embarrassment as it could grab only 10 panchayat samiti seats. The SAD was on the back foot in the elections following a strong resentment over the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report. Though SAD denied its impact, the mandate seems to have shown that the report dented its image.   

Congress men tried to manipulate results: SAD     

• Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders on Saturday alleged that Congress workers, with the help of the administration, took over counting centres to manipulate results of the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections
• Sanaur MLA Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra said the administration allowed only officials and Congress men inside counting centres to ensure that only government-backed candidates were declared the winners 
• “In the Issarherhi zone, SAD candidate Sarabjit Kaur won by 35 votes with a total 1,277 votes in her favour. She was issued a certificate but was called back. The certificate was taken back and recounting was ordered. Thereafter, her opponent was declared the winner,” he said
• “Similarly, in the Panjola zone, the winning candidate was almost declared a loser. However, after two-hour drama, SAD candidate Satpal Singh Pannu was declared the winner. There was a power cut every two hours, precisely planned to help ruling party candidates,” Chandumajra alleged
• Former Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra claimed that the SAD core committee would meet at Badal village on Sunday and chalk out the future course of action. “The party president will decide the action to be taken on poll rigging and slapping of false cases against SAD workers,” he stated