Less than a month after AAP's Punjab Assembly poll win, Bhagwant Mann holds meet for year-end civic body polls

Ruchika M. Khanna

Chandigarh, April 8

Buoyed by its astounding success in the Punjab Assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party is now eyeing the local body elections due year-end.

Four of the largest municipal corporations- Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala- will go to polls in December.

A meeting to discuss the party strategy was held today between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and party incharge of Punjab affairs Jarnail Singh. The duo reportedly discussed the party structure at the ward level and how to strengthen it, besides the “urban development plan” to be unleashed before the polls. AAP has assigned the task to oversee the MC polls to Jarnail Singh, who was instrumental in the impressive performance of the party in the recently held Chandigarh MC polls.

Harchand Singh Barsat, who has also been assigned the task to oversee the strategy for MC polls, told The Tribune that the party is in the final stages of drawing a blueprint to implement promised development agendas in urban areas. It may be mentioned that winning the local body elections is politically crucial for the party in power as it helps them reach out to the grassroot level.

It may be mentioned that AAP has won all eight assembly seats that fall in area of Patiala Corporation, 13 of the 14 seats that fall in area of Ludhiana Corporation, nine of 11 in Amritsar Corporation and four of nine in Jalandhar Municipal Corporation. Interestingly, while former Patiala Mayor Ajitpal Singh Kohli is now an AAP MLA, after defeating former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, the sitting mayor of Amritsar, Karamjit Singh Rintu, too had joined AAP, days before the assembly elections.