The SAD-BJP combine has swept majority of the three municipal councils and 27 nagar panchayat polls held on June 7 in Punjab. The results were declared by the State Election Commission on Monday. Barring the Balachour municipal council in Nawanshahr district,where SAD won three out of the 13 seats and Independent candidates won 10,the SAD-BJP combine is comfortably in the saddle in the Machhiwara council in Ludhiana with 8 out of 13 seats and the Dharamkot council in Moga,where the alliance won all the 13 seats. The Congress could open its account only in Machhiwara where they won five seats. Other than the Goraya nagar panchayat in Jalandhar district,where the Congress managed to get five out of the total 13 seats,the party has been virtually routed in most other nagar panchayats. In 21 out of the 27 nagar panchayats to which the elections were held,the Congress could not manage even a single seat. While the SAD-BJP will hold control over majority of the nagar panchayats,it will have to rope in independents to come to power in Dhilwan nagar panchayat in Kapurthala and Bhikhi in Mansa. In Dhilwan,the SAD has got four out of the total 11 seats and the independents have got seven seats. In Bhikhi,in the 12-seated nagar panchayat,five seats have gone to SAD and six to the independents. The alliances hold at Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur,Bholath in Kapurthla and Moonak in Sangrur,will be weak with only seven seats each out of the 13-seated nagar panchayats under thier belt. The rest have gone to the independents. At three places Raja Sansi (Amritsar),Makhu (Ferozepur) and Mallanwala Khas (Ferozepur) the SAD won all the 13 seats each in the municipal body. At Bariwala in Muktsar,the SAD-BJP combine won all the 11 seats of the nagar panchayat. Similarly,at Shahkot nagar panchayat in Jalandhar,the alliance won all the 13 seats. In Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda),the alliance won 12 out of the 13 seats with one seat going to the Congress. In Amloh (Fatehgarh Sahib),12 out of the 13 seats in the nagar panchayat were won by the SAD-BJP with one seat going to an Independent candidate. At Ghagga in Patiala,while SAD-BJP won eight seats and Congress two,one seat went to an independent candidate. At Ghanaur,also in Patiala,the SAD-BJP won 10 out of 11 seats,where results have been declared. At Khanauri in Sangrur and Bhogpur in Jalandhar,the alliance won eight out of the 13 seats,losing five to independents. At Begowal in Kapurthala,nine seats went to SAD-BJP and two to independents. At Handiyaya in Barnala,SAD-BJP won 10 of the 11 seats. Civic poll victory affirms masses faith in us: BJP New Delhi: Hailing the victory of SAD-BJP alliance in the Punjab municipal elections,the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said it showed that the present government in the state continued to enjoy the popular support of people and promised that the party will ensure good governance there. The local bodies elections has affirmed that the victory of the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab is hailed by the people and continues to have the popular support of the people, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in Delhi. She said that the ruling alliance has got a very clear mandate in four municipal corporations of Amritsar,Jalandhar,Ludhiana and Patiala and in three municipal councils also. Besides,she said out of the 29 Nagar Nigams that also went to polls,the alliance has won 26. We are very happy and we are grateful to the people of Punjab for supporting the alliance and we shall ensure that good governance and efforts to reach out to the people of Punjab will be undertaken by these elected representatives to the various civic bodies, said Sitharaman.
