Punjab: AAP wins Zila parishad, Panchayat polls stamp of approval for Mann govt, says Kejriwal
Chandigarh (PTI): The ruling Aam Aadmi Party registered an emphatic victory in the rural body elections in Punjab, winning 63 per cent zones of zila parishads and 54 per cent zones of panchayat samitis.
According to the results of elections declared on Thursday, the Congress secured the second spot, while the Shiromani Akali Dal got the third. The BJP was at the fourth position in the rural polls.
Meanwhile, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said his party's strong showing in the elections showed that people in rural areas put their stamp of approval on the Bhagwant Mann-led government.
Complete results of the polls came on Thursday after the completion of counting of ballot papers, which began on Tuesday.
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Polling was held on December 14 to elect members for 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis.
In zila parishad, AAP registered victory in 218 zones, while the Congress won 62 zones.
The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD got 46 zones, BJP seven, BSP three and Independents 10.
In case of panchayat samitis, AAP won 1,531 zones, while the Congress secured 612 and SAD 445 zones. The BJP registered victory in 73 zones and the BSP in 28 zones. Independents won 144 zones, according to the result.
Reacting to the result, Kejriwal said it showed that there was a wave in favour of his party in the state.
"It shows that people in rural areas have put their stamp of approval on works undertaken by the AAP government under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann," he said as he spoke about anti-drug drive, canal water reaching fields after a "gap of 75 years", free electricity, and government jobs on merit basis.
Kejriwal also vehemently rejected the Opposition's accusations of "high-handedness" in the polling and asserted that the elections were conducted in fair and free manner.
Though the poll results showed a resounding victory of the ruling party in rural areas, the Congress and SAD also challenged AAP at some of the zones.
The poll results suggested that the Congress gave a tough fight to the ruling party in SBS Nagar, Rupnagar, Ferozepur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana while SAD made its presence felt in Muktsar, Faridkot and Bathinda.
In zila parishads, the Congress secured six zones out of 10 in SBS Nagar, five out of 10 in Rupnagar, six out of 14 in Ferozepur, seven out of 21 in Jalandhar, and eight out of 25 in Ludhiana.
In panchayat samitis, the grand old party got 34 out of 82 zones in SBS Nagar, 50 out of 93 in Rupnagar, 61 out of 188 in Jalandhar and 73 out of 235 in Ludhiana.
SAD showed strong performance in the zila parishad of Bathinda where it won 13 out of 17 zones, seven out of 13 in Muktsar and five out of 10 in Faridkot.
In panchayat samitis, the Badal-led outfit won 79 zones out of 137 in Bathinda, 25 of 65 in Faridkot and 48 of 95 in Muktsar, the results showed.
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The BJP won three zones of Fazilka zila parishad and four in Pathankot zila parishad.
Meanwhile, the candidates backed by gangster-turned-politician Gurmeet Singh Sekhon won the Bajidpur and Ferozeshah zones in Ferozepur. These candidates were also supported by SAD.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring accused the AAP government of "stealing" polls.
"@AAPPunjab may bask in STOLEN GLORY of 'sweeping' the rural mandate, but it knows pretty well where it stands. We know it. They know it. People of Punjab know it. They have NOT swept the elections, they have STOLEN these," Warring alleged in a post on X.
Opposition parties Congress and SAD had earlier accused the ruling AAP of indulging in high-handedness and misusing the official machinery against opposition candidates.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
