Gurdaspur bypoll results will affect MC elections: Political observers

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 15

Political experts in the city are of the view that the results of Gurdaspur bypoll will affect the upcoming MC elections scheduled to be held in December.

The vote share of the SAD and AAP has decreased in the Gurdaspur elections. Minister for Local Bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu has announced that the MC poll to be held in December and the Congress is gearing up for the elections.

Experts believe that the ruling party will manage to grab more seats. The SAD- BJP alliance was in a majority in the last term of the MC House. From 2012-17, there were only four Congress councillors in the House.

Political experts say it will be tough for the local leaders and volunteers of the AAP to gain votes in the upcoming elections. The party got a poor response from the voters during the Assembly elections, they said.

Gurpreet Singh, a political observer, said, “Despite good response in the Malwa region and rural Punjab before the Assembly elections, the AAP did not perform well in Amritsar city. Several MC councillors joined the AAP before the elections. Now, they will contest the elections on the AAP ticket. The defeat of the AAP candidate in Gurdaspur will affect its prospects badly.”

Another political expert Kuljit Singh said, “The ruling party always uses the government machinery and other powers to get votes. But in the civics body elections, people vote to the candidates not the party. The defeat of the BJP in Gurdaspur will damage the prospects of the SAD-BJP alliance more than the AAP. The Congress will defiantly get benefit.”