Results show Punjab people’s trust in AAP: Arvind Kejriwal

A day after AAP put up a strong show in the zila parishad and block samiti poll results, national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the verdict reflects people’s trust in the Bhagwant Mann government’s “politics of work” featuring the ‘Yudh Nashe Virudh’ (war against drugs), irrigation reforms, reliable electricity, road construction, employment, education and healthcare.

“With over 70 per cent of the seats secured, the results point to a strong pro-incumbency wave and a clear endorsement of its governance. The AAP outpaced Congress, Akali Dal and BJP by wide margins,” he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said that AAP won 67 per cent of the block samiti seats and 72 per cent of the zila parishad seats, securing nearly 70 per cent of the total rural seats. “Akali Dal boasts itself of being a rural dominated party but has been decimated in these areas.”

Addressing a press conference at the party office in Mohali, Kejriwal explained that such elections are often seen as an early indicator of public mood. “The block samiti and zila parishad elections of 2013 were held one year after the 2012 Assembly elections. At that time, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had won in 2012, and these elections were held immediately after their so-called honeymoon period. Similarly, the 2018 rural elections were held one year after the 2017 Assembly elections, which the Congress had won. The current elections have been held one year before the next Assembly elections. Despite that, the results clearly show people’s satisfaction with the present government,” he said.

Citing detailed figures, the AAP head said, “There are 580 seats across Punjab that were won with a margin of less than 100 votes. Out of these 580 seats, the AAP won 261 seats by a margin of less than 100 votes, while the Opposition won 319 seats. If there had been any misuse of machinery or pressure tactics, all it would have taken was a single phone call to a DC or an SDM, and those 319 seats won by the Opposition could easily have gone in our favour.”

Meanwhile, Mann said that the hue and cry of the Opposition was baseless as the results reflect that the entire process of election was transparent, free and fair. “In Dhuri, Congress won by nine votes, in Jhunir it won by 30, in Bharatgarh by 40 votes and even in area represented by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, who indulged in a lot of tantrums to mislead the people, Congress won comfortably. If the government had indulged in high handedness, like the previous regimes, then the Congress and SAD would not have won seats even in pockets,” he asserted.

The Punjab CM said that AAP got more than 1,800 seats in block samiti and 250 zila parishad seats which was four times more seats than Congress, five times more than Akali Dal and 20 times more than BJP.