The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday registered a resounding victory in Punjab’s urban local body elections, winning over 48 per cent of the total wards across the 102 civic bodies that went to the polls on May 26.Of the eight municipal corporations, AAP won five — Mohali, Barnala, Batala, Moga and Bathinda. This was the first election to the Barnala Municipal Corporation. The BJP won Abohar, while the Congress secured Kapurthala. In Pathankot Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 20 seats, but fell short of a majority.AAP also performed strongly in the 19 nagar panchayats that went to the polls, securing control of nine of them. The SAD won five nagar panchayats, while the Congress managed to win only Mehatpur. In the remaining four nagar panchayats — Joga, Amargarh, Kiratpur and Boha – Independents have won. In Khamano, however, AAP won six of the 13 wards and fell short of an absolute majority.A notable result came from Amargarh, where six candidates backed by SAD (Punar Surjit) leader Iqbal Singh Jhundan emerged victorious, possibly making it the only local body where SAD (Punar Surjit)-backed candidates succeeded in taking control.Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann described the outcome as “historic” and said it showed that AAP had entered the “finals” of the political contest, referring to the Assembly elections due in a few months.Taking a dig at the BJP, he said, “Considering the dismal performance of all other parties, especially the ED party, which slipped to the fifth position, there is no competition for AAP in the finals. People have endorsed ‘kaam ki rajneeti’ and rejected ‘dharam ki rajneeti’, with AAP winning in 90 percent of the urban local bodies.” AAP Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia said the landslide victory showed that people had given a thumbs up to the AAP’s model of good governance, as BJP lost its security deposit in 1100 wardsOverall, AAP won 958 of the 1,977 wards. The Congress finished second with 397 wards, followed by Independents with 251 wards. The strong showing by Independents, who secured the third position, is likely to raise concerns among the traditional political parties. The SAD won 192 wards, while BJP secured 172 and the BSP won seven wards.Even if the BJP and SAD tally is combined, the two parties together won 364 wards, 33 fewer than the Congress. The SAD managed victories in 59 of the 102 civic bodies, including five nagar panchayats and the Sangat Municipal Council.The BJP secured wins in 40 civic bodies, winning the Abohar Municipal Corporation and Naya Gaon Municipal Council, besides emerging as the largest party in Pathankot Municipal Corporation.Among the prominent leaders who could not ensure victories for their parties in local bodies falling within their constituencies were Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, where Congress lost in Gidderbaha, and senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, where the Akali Dal lost in Majitha. In both places, AAP won the elections.Warring alleged that the ruling party had misused government machinery to secure victories but predicted that AAP would “bite the dust” in the Assembly elections. Majithia also alleged that despite government high-handedness, SAD had won six wards in Majitha and claimed that results in two wards were manipulated to favour AAP.