With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing a clear majority by winning 28 of the 50 wards in the Abohar Municipal Corporation, party leaders and local observers have attributed the victory to the personal rapport of Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar and the organisational efforts of his team.Notably, Abohar, the home town of Jakhars, is the only one among the eight municipal corporations that went to the polls where the BJP secured a clear majority.Residents also believe that dissatisfaction with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the pace of development works in the town contributed to the BJP’s performance. Many point out that AAP’s local constituency in-charge Arun Narang, who is an ex-MLA, joined the party less than three years ago and was unable to establish a strong grassroots connection in such a short span.Senior BJP leader and former state president Jattvibeil Jakhar is also credited with playing a key role in the campaign. According to party leaders, he spent the last two days before polling to mobilise voters and holding one-on-one meetings with residents.Interestingly, when Jattvibeil and his nephew Sandeep Jakhar were in the Congress during the previous municipal elections, held when the Congress was in power in the state, the party had won 49 of the 50 wards.This time, however, the BJP managed 28 seats, while the AAP won 20. The remaining two seats were secured by a Congress candidate and an Independent. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) failed to open its account in Abohar despite having won one seat in the previous election.Speaking to The Tribune, Sandeep said the electorate had rejected the AAP government’s policies.“The residents of Abohar have rejected the AAP because of its wrong policies. Our town received development funds of only about Rs 5.5 crore during the AAP government’s tenure, whereas Hoshiarpur received nearly Rs 35 crore,” he claimed.He also credited Jattvibeil’s guidance and the collective efforts of party workers and candidates for the victory.Several BJP candidates, or their family members, have previously served as councillors, giving them an advantage in terms of experience and voter outreach. In contrast, many AAP candidates were new faces who struggled to build a personal connection with voters within a limited timeframe, according to local residents.The election outcome is also being viewed as strengthening Sandeep’s position within the party. Referring to recent criticism over candidate selection, he said, “Some party leaders had raised questions over the selection of candidates, but now the results are before everyone. People have voted against the state government and this is a clear answer to all such criticism.”Narang, however, rejected that the results had enhanced Sandeep political stature. “The entire Jakhar team consists of leaders who were earlier in the Congress. If the Jakhars, who won 49 out of 50 seats in the last election, could secure only 28 this time, how can it be called a major rise? Rather, we have grown from no representation to winning 20 seats,” Narang said.Narang himself was formerly associated with the BJP before joining the AAP in September 2023.