The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday made political inroads into Madhya Pradesh after 14 of its candidates emerged victorious in the state civic polls, The Indian Express reported.
The party’s candidate Rani Agrawal also won the mayoral poll in Singrauli. She defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate Chandra Pratap Vishwakarma by over 9,300 votes.
The Singrauli Municipal Corporation is the state’s second richest municipal corporation after Indore in terms of revenue, according to NDTV. The district is also considered the state’s electricity generator, and a hub of coal and mineral mining.
Local bodies elections in the state for 413 civic bodies, including 16 municipal corporations, 99 municipal councils and 298 town councils were held in two phases on July 6 and 13, according to the Hindustan Times. The result of the first phase was declared on Sunday. The second phase of counting will be held on July 20.
With the counting still underway, the BJP was comfortably headed ahead in 10 of the 11 municipal corporations, 31 of the 36 municipal councils and 67 of the 86 town councils. The candidates of the Congress party were elected as mayors in Gwalior, Chhindwara and Jabalpur, according to The Indian Express.
On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Agrawal and the other winners.
“Work hard for the people,” Kejriwal said. “People all over the country are appreciating Aam Aadmi Party’s honest politics.”
Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen also registered its first electoral victory in Madhya Pradesh in the civic polls, PTI reported.
The party’s candidate Shakira Bilal won the corporator’s post in Khandwa city by defeating Congress’ Noorjahan Begum by a margin of 285 votes.
‘Unwavering faith in Shivraj Singh’
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the BJP’s performance in the first phase of the civic polls.
“This win is a symbol of the unwavering faith of the people in the Shivraj Singh-led government in the state,” Modi said in a tweet. “Many congratulations to the winning candidates and party workers”
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan called the victory historic.
“In the local body polls, the BJP emerged victorious on 80% of the seats, unlike the earlier trend where vote share was always between 45-55%,” he said, according to The Indian Express.
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