In Behbal Kalan, Bargari win, Akali Dal gains what turned its political fortunes

SAD also registered encouraging results in Faridkot’s Jaitu block, winning three of Panchayat Samiti seats till 8pm, Wednesday. The whole Jaitu block includes Bargari village — where torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found — and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, the village gurdwara from where the holy scripture was stolen.

In Bathinda district’s Rampura Phul area, SAD won both Zila Parishad seats and secured eight of the 18 Panchayat Samiti seats, followed by AAP, which won six seats. In Ferozepur, SAD-backed independent candidates won two of the total four zila parishad seats. In Muktsar too, they won two zila parishad seats till the time of filing this report.

The party’s strongest improvement was seen in Muktsar district, where SAD won 17 of the 20 Panchayat Samiti seats and all the four zila parishad seats in the Muktsar assembly constituency, while AAP managed to win only two seats till the time of filing this report.

By 9 pm on Wednesday, SAD had won nearly 250 Panchayat Samiti seats across the state, with counting continuing till late evening.

In a major upside down for AAP, SAD won block samiti as well as zila parishad polls in Bathinda district despite being in opposition. In Bathinda block samiti, the results of all the 137 zones were declared in which SAD became the largest winning party by winning 79 seats, followed by AAP with 35 seats.

Congress won 15 seats and independents won 8.

In Bathinda Zila Parishad, of 17 zones, SAD won 13 and only four went to AAP.

SAD also got the majority in Muktsar Vidhan Sabha and Lambi Vidhan Sabha constituencies. In Lambi constituency of Muktsar, SAD won 19 seats of 25 in block samiti and were leading in another three. Of the four Zila Parishad seats in Lambi..SAD won all the four.

In Malaut constituency of Muktsar district, results of 18 block samiti zones was declared and AAP won 10 while SAD could win 8. SAD won only 4 zones out of 25 in Gidderbaha block samiti.

In Mansa district, of the total 81 Panchayat Samiti seats, AAP had won 37 seats, followed by SAD with 32, while BJP opened its account by winning only one seat and Congress had won four seats only and independents won the rest seats. Of the total 11 Zila Parishad seats in Mansa, AAP won 7 while 4 by SAD.

Political observers note that the current performance marks a sharp contrast to the 2018 Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections, when the ruling Congress had swept 331 of 353 Zila Parishad seats, leaving SAD with just 18 seats and BJP with two. In the Block Samiti polls that year, Congress had won 2,351 of 2,899 seats, while SAD had secured 353, BJP 63 and AAP just 20.

Following the 2022 Assembly elections— where SAD was reduced to three MLAs — and the party’s loss of security deposits in several Lok Sabha constituencies, including Sangrur and the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll, they had boycotted the 2024 assembly bypolls held on four seats due to Sukhbir Singh Badal’s Tankhaiya status. The party had a dismal showing in the 2024 panchayat elections, party leaders are viewing the current results as a turnaround.

Among the notable wins was SAD candidate Jaswinder Kaur’s victory in the Mehal Kalan Block Samiti, where she defeated the AAP candidate in a block that includes the native villages of Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and AAP MLA Kulwant Singh Pandori.

“The results are still coming in, but these trends have lifted the morale of party workers. The Akali Dal is making a comeback,” said members of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s team.

While the final picture will emerge after counting concludes, SAD insiders say the party’s performance since 2022 shows a steady revival and has provided a much-needed boost to the cadre.