In one of the biggest upsets of the Municipal Corporation elections in Ludhiana, Pankaj Gautam emerged victorious from Ward No. 9 as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), despite earlier being projected as a likely nominee of the party.
Gautam’s victory is being seen as a significant setback for the ruling party at the local level and a clear indication that voters in civic elections often place greater trust in grassroots leaders than in party affiliations.
According to the final results, Gautam secured 325 votes to defeat his nearest rival, Congress candidate Kiranjeet Kaur Mangat, who polled 278 votes. AAP candidate Sukhwinder Kaur finished a distant third with 67 votes.
The result has attracted considerable attention in political circles as Gautam was widely regarded as a strong contender for the AAP ticket due to his active involvement in local issues and public outreach in the ward.
However, when the party announced its final list of candidates, the ticket was allotted to another aspirant. Even sitting MLA Manvinder Singh Giaspura posted a video on his social media account announcing his candidature before the elections.
Following the decision, Gautam chose to contest as an Independent candidate. His candidature received strong support from residents and local supporters who believed he had been consistently working in the area and addressing civic concerns.
During the campaign, Gautam focused on local issues such as sanitation, damaged roads, sewerage problems and development works. He repeatedly appealed to voters to support a candidate who was directly connected with the people and aware of the ward’s day-to-day problems.
The election outcome reflected the strength of his local support base. Despite facing candidates backed by major political parties, Gautam managed to secure a comfortable victory and emerged as one of the surprise winners of the civic polls.
Speaking after his victory, Gautam said the result belonged to the residents of Ward No. 9. He assured people that he would work for the development of the area and focus on resolving pending civic issues.
