The Congress on Sunday won the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections amid allegations of rigging from the Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party, PTI reported. The Shiromani Akali Dal announced that it will hold a protest on October 7, The Hindu reported.
The Election Commission said the Congress won 331 of the 354 zila (district) parishad seats, Shiromani Akali Dal secured 18 and the Bharatiya Janata Party won two in the elections held on September 19. Congress candidates got 2,351 of the 2,899 zones in the 150 panchayat samitis, while the Shiromani Akali Dal bagged 353, BJP 63 and Aam Aadmi Party secured 20.
Chief minister and Congress leader Amarinder Singh described the victory as an “acknowledgement of the people’s trust and confidence in its development-oriented policies and pro-people initiatives of the Congress”.
Singh, however, refuted the Opposition’s claims of rigging. “When anyone loses, what else will they say. They will not say they have become unpopular,” Singh said.
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