2021 Punjab, India local elections
Punjab 2021 Municipal Elections: A Short Overview
Punjab held elections for urban local bodies on 14 February 2021, with results announced on 17 February. The poll covered eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, totaling 2,215 seats (about 400 in corporations and 1,815 in councils). Turnout was 73.53 percent. The elections had been postponed from October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The major players were the Indian National Congress (INC), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). INC was led by captain Amarinder Singh, SAD by Sukhbir Singh Badal, AAP by Bhagwant Mann, and BJP by Ashwani Kumar Sharma.
In the results, the Indian National Congress emerged as the largest winner in the urban local bodies. In the eight municipal corporations, INC won all of them, and in Moga Municipal Corporation several independents aligned with INC. Across 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, INC won 78 of its own candidates and 20 more with independent support, giving it 98 of 109 wards. Akali Dal won five councils, and CPI won the Joga Council in Mansa; five councils had unclear results with independents leading.
Election administration involved deploying about 20,510 polling officers and 19,000 police personnel to ensure peaceful voting. There were a few irregularities: a fake voter was detected in Bathinda Ward 34, and repollings were held in two booths in Samana and one booth in Patran on 16 February. A Mohali repoll was ordered for 17 February, and its results were postponed to 18 February.
Background notes: the 2015 elections saw SAD-BJP perform well, but the 2021 vote saw INC perform strongly in urban local bodies.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:30 (CET).