In the backdrop of the farmer's agitation at the borders of the capital, the Congress party made a clean sweep in Punjab’s seven of the eight municipal corporation elections on 17 February which are Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Pathankot, Batala, Bathinda, and now Mohali as well, which went into a re-poll and the Congress emerged victorious there on 18 February when the results were declared.

In the final count, the Congress won 1,399 of the 2,165 wards in municipal councils and 271 of the 350 municipal corporation seats. The most stunning victory came from Bathinda, where the Congress party is set to elect a mayor for the first time in 53 years, a city which has been the bastion of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

On the other side, the BJP had a disappointing day since it is considered as an urban party in Punjab but came in with only 38 seats in the municipal wards and 20 of the municipal corporation seats. BJP's defeat in the elections does send a clear message to the Centre from the people of Punjab in the context of farms laws and the handling of ongoing farmers protest.

The rest of the seats were won by the SAD which trailed at 289 and 33, and the Aam Aadmi Party at 57 and 9, respectively.

How important is this victory is for the Congress, how big was the defeat for the BJP, and does this shed any light on the 2022 Assembly polls?

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Aditya Menon, Political Editor at The Quint

Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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