CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday inducted 31 Independent councillors into the party after they won in the recent municipal body elections across Punjab.Badal said another 20 Independent winners are expected to join the party soon, taking the total support base of such councillors to 51. According to him, all of them have already extended support to the SAD.Elections to 102 municipal bodies covering 1,897 wards across eight municipal corporations—including Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala and Pathankot—along with 75 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats were held on May 26 using ballot papers, recording a voter turnout of 63.94 per cent.While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured over 48 per cent of the wards, the Congress finished second, followed by the SAD and the BJP.Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Badal said the induction of Independent councillors has taken SAD’s effective tally to 243 wards, compared to 192 won directly on the party symbol.He also claimed the party now holds absolute majority in nine municipal committees, including Maluka, Kot Shamir, Bhagta Bhaika, Bhucho, Nathana, Lehra Mohabbat, Sangat, Kot Fatta and Rahon.Badal further said SAD has emerged as the leading party in terms of votes in several committees such as Faridkot, Mehraj, Majitha and Maur, alleging that in some places candidates were “wrongly declared defeated despite securing the highest votes.”Claiming satisfaction with the overall performance, Badal said the party had fared better than the Congress despite what he called attempts to weaken SAD during the elections.He alleged that the party was forced to contest 300 fewer seats than the Congress due to administrative pressure and claimed that despite this, the Congress won only about 150 more seats.He also accused the AAP government of using “repressive tactics”, including the arrest of SAD district president Satish Grover in Faridkot and action against party workers in Majitha.Badal warned that such actions would create public resentment against the ruling party and said voters would respond in the upcoming Assembly elections.(With PTI inputs)
