Can't get a better result than this: Amarinder Singh on Punjab civic polls

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the Congress party “can't get a better result than this” after it won all three municipal corporations of Amritsar, Patiala and Jalandhar in the civic body polls.

Polling for three municipal corporations and 32 nagar councils and nagar panchayats were held on Sunday. The counting of votes began soon after the polling ended.

The civic poll results are a big boost to the party which comes after its big victory in the assembly elections in March. The party had been struggling to consolidate votes in elections since the resurgence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led saffron brigade, which seemed to have white-washed others in the battle of ballots polls after polls.

The Punjab victory had been a face-saver for the grand old party after it lost a considerable ground since the last general elections, including Assam and Manipur, which were predominantly a Congress stronghold.

“Election results have been very good, we are very pleased. You can't get a better result than this. Out of three corporations, we have swept polls and won all of them,” the ANI news agency quoted Singh as saying after the civic poll verdict.

The civic polls were spread across 17 districts. A total of 873 polling stations and 1,938 polling booths were set up for the elections and 50 percent of the seats were reserved for women.

In Amritsar, 413 candidates were in the fray for 85 wards, while in Jalandhar, 305 candidates were in the fray for 80 wards. Scores of candidates had also contested for the 57 wards in Patiala.

In 2012, the Akali Dal-BJP alliance had swept the state civic polls. The alliance had bagged 48 wards in Amritsar Municipal Corporation, 38 in Patiala, 35 in Jalandhar and over 40 in Ludhiana. However this year, the civic poll was not held in Ludhiana reportedly due to delay in voters’ registration process.