Why AAP’s win from behind in Amritsar civic polls could drag it down

Besides, the AAP’s claim that it had bridged the gap between its numbers and that of the Congress in the Amritsar civic body with the help of Akali Dal councillors is a departure from the party’s anti-SAD politics in the state.

The bitter war of words between the AAP and Congress in the wake of the Amritsar development has also given the BJP another opportunity to twist the knife in the INDIA bloc, of which both the AAP and Congress are members.

The Congress has demanded a repoll, threatened to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court over the result, and compared the situation to what had happened during the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections.

Rivals also point to the discrepancy between the AAP seeking a show of hands in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation this time, after last year’s experience, while insisting on a secret ballot in Amritsar. In Chandigarh, the AAP has 13 councillors to the BJP’s 15. The Congress with seven councillors has announced support to the AAP.

The Supreme Court has appointed an independent observer for the Chandigarh election, which is to be held on Thursday.

Civic polls in several cities across Punjab were held last month. Except for Patiala, the Opposition and Independents gave a tough challenge to the AAP throughout. In Jalandhar and Ludhiana, where the AAP performed well, it did not get enough seats to ensure a mayor on its own.

The results in Amritsar, where the AAP won only 24 of the 85 wards, was particularly disappointing for the party as, in last year’s Lok Sabha elections, it had swept all the seven Assembly segments falling under the seat with handsome margins.

In 40 Amritsar wards, candidates who fought on the Congress symbol were winners, while four were won by the SAD. The BJP finished with a tally of nine councillors while eight wards were won by Independents.

Following the elections and a series of joinings and exits, the Congress tally went up to 41 while the BJP’s went down to seven. Besides, some BJP councillors and seven of the eight Independents were believed to be leaning towards the AAP.

On the day of the elections for mayoral and deputy mayoral posts Monday, the BJP’s seven councillors staged a walkout. The AAP later claimed support of the four SAD councillors, making its tally 37, and said two Congress councillors had remained absent, reducing its tally to 39.

AAP state president Aman Arora thanked SAD councillors for their “support”. In a press note, the party said, “Two Congress Municipal Councillors remained absent, weakening the party’s position. Additionally, the Congress failed to nominate their mayoral candidates, highlighting a lack of preparation and internal coordination.”

But both the Congress and SAD denied the AAP’s claims. While the Congress said all its councillors were present, the SAD said none of its councillors had voted for the AAP. The SAD also supported the Congress’s claim that there was no voting and that the AAP had simply named its men to the top three posts.

The SAD councillors also joined the Congress councillors in protests held after the meeting to elect the mayor and deputy mayors.

There was no video evidence of the voting, while the returning officer, Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner Arun Sekhri, has refused to comment on the matter.

Incidentally, the new Amritsar Mayor, Karamjit Singh Rintu, used to hold the post for the Congress. Then, in 2022, just before the Assembly elections, he switched to the AAP.

The AAP’s seeming willingness to join hands with the SAD comes on the back of the AAP’s growth in the state at the cost of largely the Sukhbir Singh Badal-helmed party. Since it came to power, the AAP has levelled a series of corruption allegations against the SAD, but failed to prove any.

For AAP rivals, the Amritsar development is characteristic of the party reverting to all the things it had railed against on its way up.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the Congress MLA from Bulath, said: “The hijacking of municipal bodies in Punjab through gross misuse of official machinery, especially the police, and horse-trading, bribery etc, by the Bhagwant Mann-led government in the state has rendered the AAP morally and politically bankrupt. Whatever the allegations Arvind Kejriwal makes daily against the BJP, he and his cronies are misusing power much more blatantly and shamelessly in Punjab. So, what is the difference between the AAP and BJP style of politics?”

AAP rivals link its tactics to retain the Amritsar civic body to its “declining” fortunes, pointing to the fact that apart from its poor performance in the municipal elections, it had won only three seats in the Lok Sabha out of Punjab’s 13 last year.

In Amritsar, the AAP’s local MLAs themselves have been complaining against the neglect of basic facilities despite the number of tourists, including international, that visit the historic city which is the site of Sikhism’s holiest shrine. Among the most vocal is Amritsar North MLA Kunwar Vijay Partap, who has been talking of failure of sewerage, water, garbage and solid waste management.

Asked about the allegations regarding the municipal posts’ voting, AAP chief Aman Arora said: “These are baseless. We won with a majority.”

However, SAD councillor Inderjit Singh Pandori maintained the Opposition charge that “there was no voting”. “They just announced their candidates and then announced them as mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.”

Congress Legislative Party leader Partap Singh Bajwa said: “We have informed the high command about what the AAP has done in Amritsar. There are other things too that cannot be disclosed. We have told the high command that there is no need to maintain any relationship with the AAP for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation either.”

What happened in Chandigarh

The Congress says what has happened in Amritsar is almost a repeat of the January 30, 2024, elections to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. At the time, Anil Masih, the returning officer known to be affiliated to the BJP, was caught on CCTV putting a mark on votes of eight AAP councillors, rendering them defunct.

At the time, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had 14 BJP and AAP councillors each, eight of the Congress, and one of the SAD.

After the BJP won despite the above numbers, the matter went to the Supreme Court. Following the Court’s intervention, Masih tendered an unconditional apology. The Court subsequently declared AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Kumar the mayor.