Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday reacted strongly after results of Punjab municipal elections and said that people of the state have once again shown trust in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and addressing a press conference Mann said election results have made political situation in Punjab “very clear” and added that truth has now come out in front of everyone.
Mann said opposition parties had tried hard to target AAP and its leaders through agencies and repeated allegations and said his party had faced pressure from “ED party”, reffering to BJP and claimed that attempts were made to build a false narrative against AAP leaders and he also said despite all this people continued to support his government.
Referring to election results Mann said AAP has performed strongly across all regions of Punjab including Malwa, Majha and Doaba and mentioned areas like Gidderbaha, Barnala, Dhuri, Tanda and Dasuya while explaining that party’s support is no longer limited to one belt of Punjab.
The CM said people voted the work done by his government and according to him voters supported schemes related to health cards, education, employment and welfare programs and also claimed that every section of society voted for AAP, including farmers, labourers, rehri vendors and common working people as well.
He also thanked voters for peaceful polling across the state and said that more than 90 percent of polling process remained peaceful except for a few isolated incidents and at the same time he accused opposition parties like Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal of continuing with “old excuses” whenever they lose elections “Whenever they lose they talk about irregularities but if there was any problem would it happen only where they lost?” Mann asked during the press conference and added that opposition parties accept results where they win but raise questions only in seats where they are defeated.
The Chief Minister also took a swipe at BJP and Akali Dal saying both parties struggled to even field full sets of candidates in many places and claimed that BJP’s vote share remained extremely low and said the party cannot come to power in Punjab through pressure tactics or central agencies and further said that AAP believes in “positive politics” and does not promote hatred, violence or religious division and said people in Punjab vote for work and development rather than negative politics.
In the municipal election results across 104 local bodies in Punjab including eight municipal corporations AAP emerged as the biggest party as elections were held for 1,977 wards and AAP won around 800 wards and the combined tally of Congress, BJP and Akali Dal remained below AAP’s total numbers however political experts believe that while the results are a major boost for AAP the 2027 Assembly elections will still be a bigger challenge meanwhile, Mann congratulated all winning candidates including those from opposition parties and assured that his government would not discriminate against any area and said development funds would be provided equally for public work across Punjab.
