Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday thanked the people and the party workers for ensuring smooth and impressive turnout in the Municipal Council and Municipal Committee elections, despite the efforts by the Akalis to scuttle the poll process through threats, violence and rumour mongering in some areas.
Akalis tried their best to scare the voters away from the booths, especially in areas where the Congress has a strong hold, but failed to intimidate them, said Jakhar.
Besides instigating violence here and there, the Akalis indulged in rumour mongering in a desperate effort to keep the voters away, he added.
The preparations made by the Capt Amarinder Singh Government ensured that the situation remained under control, said Jakhar, thanking the Congress workers for maintaining peace in the face of provocative acts of violence by the opposition.
Pointing out that this was for the first time in a decade that the polls were held in a free and democratic manner, Jakhar said that the Akalis, during their 10-year-rule, had brazenly used muscle power to rig the elections.
“Misuse of the police force to intimidate the voters and the political opponents was common under the Akali regime. SAD is evidently unable to reconcile itself to the fact that it is no longer in power,” he said.
Jakhar also thanked the people of Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar, for coming out in large numbers to cast their vote and refusing to succumb to threats by the opposition.
The Congress workers too were buoyed by the palpable swing in favour of the party in the run-up to the elections, he further said, and expressed the confidence that with Rahul Gandhi taking over the reins of the party high command, the euphoria in the party would translate into majority votes for it.
While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had lost its ground completely in Punjab, as in the rest of the country, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had also failed to recover from the shameful rout it had witnessed in the Assembly elections, said Jakhar.