Mohali – Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the party had secured a decisive mandate in Punjab’s zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, claiming victories in nearly 70 per cent of the seats. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also hailed the outcome, saying rural voters had once again placed their trust in the AAP government.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal described the results as a validation of the work done by the Bhagwant Mann-led government over the past four years. He said the elections were held after the completion of four years of the AAP government’s tenure and reflected public approval of its governance model. Kejriwal highlighted the government’s campaign against drugs, the supply of canal water after nearly seven decades, daytime electricity for the agriculture sector, 600 units of free power for domestic consumers and the construction of world-class roads as key achievements.
Despite AAP’s overall dominance, the results were marked by a mixed outcome, as several senior party leaders failed to secure victories for party candidates in their native villages. Among those who could not deliver wins on their home turf were Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal, MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, AAP chief spokesperson Kuldeep Dhaliwal, and MLAs Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana, Master Jagsir Singh, Kulwant Singh Pandori and Baljinder Kaur. Except for Manjhi and Pandori, where Congress candidates emerged victorious, most of these villages saw AAP candidates defeated by nominees of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
In some constituencies, the margins were striking. In Loham village of Ferozepur, AAP reportedly secured just one vote, while in Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s native Satauj village, the BJP managed to poll only one vote.
AAP state president Aman Arora congratulated party workers and claimed the elections were among the most transparent in Punjab’s history. He said voters had delivered their verdict based on the performance of the AAP government, adding that the party had won 88 per cent of zila parishad seats and 68 per cent of panchayat samiti seats. However, opposition parties managed to dent AAP’s dominance in panchayat samitis, winning over 30 per cent of the seats. While AAP performed strongly in the Majha region, it faced stiff competition from the Congress and SAD in Malwa.
The rural body elections are being seen as a political indicator ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls, now just over a year away. Historically, such elections have favoured the ruling party, with the Akali-BJP alliance winning in 2008 and 2013, and the Congress sweeping the 2018 polls when it was in power.
As counting progressed, opposition leaders raised allegations of irregularities, claiming their polling agents were denied entry at some counting centres and that officials wrongly declared ruling party candidates as winners. In response, State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari directed returning officers to issue election certificates immediately after counting in each zone.
By late evening, results for 120 of 346 zila parishad zones and 1,605 of 2,838 panchayat samiti zones had been declared. AAP had won 80 zila parishad seats and 828 panchayat samiti seats, followed by the Congress.
A notable development was the apparent resurgence of the Shiromani Akali Dal, which won 152 panchayat samiti seats and six zila parishad seats, with strong showings in Faridkot, Bathinda, Mansa and Muktsar. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged misuse of government machinery by the ruling party, claiming large-scale rejection of opposition nomination papers, but said the party was steadily regaining ground.
The Congress posted a respectable performance, winning 18 zila parishad seats and 196 panchayat samiti seats. State Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the party remained competitive despite alleged pressure tactics by the ruling dispensation. The BJP, meanwhile, managed to win only 26 panchayat samiti seats and two zila parishad seats, while the BSP emerged as a smaller but notable player in parts of Jalandhar district.
