Congress misused govt machinery to win civic body polls: Punjab BJP chief

The Punjab BJP on Friday alleged that the ruling Congress won the civic body polls in the state by misusing the government machinery. The Congress may have won but the democracy is defeated, said Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma while addressing the media here.

The Punjab BJP on Friday alleged that the ruling Congress won the civic body polls in the state by “misusing” the government machinery. “We reject the results. The Congress may have won but the democracy is defeated,” said Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma while addressing the media here. “The Congress won these elections by misusing the government machinery. It was a murder of democracy,” alleged Sharma. In the recently held Punjab civic body polls, the Congress won seven municipal corporations of Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala, Mohali and Pathankot and emerged as the largest party in the Moga MC. It also bagged most of the 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats where the elections were held.

Sharma also slammed the Amarinder Singh-led government in the state for having “failed” to ensure the rule of law for holding impartial polls. He said the Congress “goons” under the guise of farmers created an “atmosphere of fear” during the polls in order to “prevent” the BJP candidates from contesting these polls. He further said the party leaders and candidates were “prevented” from campaigning and the rights of voters were also “violated”.