Punjab Congress Accuses AAP Of Rigging Rural Elections; Claims 'Stolen Glory'

Chandigarh, Dec 18 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday alleged that the ruling AAP was "basking in the stolen glory" as it had "looted and robbed" the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in the state.

Reacting to the results and the AAP's claims of "victory", Warring said everyone, including the AAP leaders know that how these elections were fought and how the administration and police were "misused" for these elections, similar to the previous by-polls.

In a statement, he said despite the AAP government's "high-handedness and abuse of power", the Congress candidates managed to do reasonably well.

"If the Congress could provide such an impressive fight when the odds were heavily against us, imagine what we can achieve once it will be the level playing field during 2027", he noted, while expressing confidence that the Congress will stage a comeback.

Warring said these elections have marked the beginning of the end for the ruling AAP.

"Even the AAP leaders know the reality of these elections, just because they cannot admit it publicly", he added.

He expressed gratitude to the lakhs of Congress workers and supporters who stood up to AAP's "dictatorial ways of working and abuse of power".

"Each and every worker will be duly acknowledged and rewarded in due course of time", he said, while assuring the party workers that their hard work and sacrifice will not go unnoticed or unacknowledged.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered an emphatic victory in the rural body elections in Punjab, winning 63 per cent zones of zila parishads and 54 per cent zones of panchayat samitis.

According to the results of elections declared on Thursday, the Congress secured the second spot, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) got the third. The BJP was at the fourth position in the rural polls.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said his party's win in the elections showed that people in rural areas have put their stamp of approval on the Bhagwant Mann-led government.

Polling was held on December 14 to elect members for 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis.

In zila parishad, AAP registered victory in 218 zones, while the Congress won 62 zones.

The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD got 46 zones, BJP seven, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) three and independents 10.

AAP won 1,531 zones in panchayat samitis, while the Congress secured 612 and 445 zones were won by the SAD. The BJP registered victory in 73 zones, BSP won in 28 zones and independents won 144 zones, according to the result.

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)