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Congress loses battle of the ballot in Bhattal’s backyard

CHANDIGARH: The results of the latest municipal council elections in 95 towns of Punjab while pointing towards major chinks in the Congress armour indicate that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal has made major inroads into the urban areas of the State.

Out of the results for 94 councils declared by the State Election Commission, at least 87 have gone to the ruling Akali-BJP alliance. The Congress could manage to win just four, while the remaining would be dominated by Independents.

According to a detailed break-up, of the 1,517 wards whose results have been declared so far, the Akali Dal bagged 610, the BJP 296 and the Congress -- which contested the maximum seats -- was restricted to 338. Even the Independent and other parties put together tallied 263 successful campaigns.

This may perhaps be the poorest performance by the Congress in recent years, as the party lost the Municipal Council at Lehra in Sangrur district, which is represented by the president of the Punjab unit of the Congress, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who is also the Leader of the Opposition and a former Deputy Chief Minister. Of the 13 wards, the Akalis won seven and Congress six.

Despite having camped there, Ms. Bhattal could not ensure victory of the Congress candidate in her own ward, where Dular Kumar Goel of the Akali Dal romped home by an impressive margin. Akali Dal general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra pointed that at least two of his party’s candidates lost by wafer-thin margins of less than 10 votes, which exposed the hollowness of Ms. Bhattal’s allegations that the polls were rigged. He said that unlike Ms. Bhattal, he stayed away from Lehra on polling day.

However, detractors within the Congress are once again set to approach the party high command to express their disenchantment with the present dispensation at the helm in the State unit of the party. While a section continues to allege that Ms. Bhattal and coterie had colluded with the Chief Minister, causing widespread discouragement in the party rank and file, others point out that recent photographs of Ms. Bhattal accompanying Mr. Badal in the same car during a visit to the border areas had proved to be the “proverbial” last straw.

However, another section of the party believes that Ms. Bhattal did not put her best foot forward even in her home constituency.

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