AAP scores maiden win in MP civic polls; Kejriwal hails party's performance

New Delhi, July 17: The AAP on Sunday hailed its victory on one mayoral post in the Madhya Pradesh civic body elections as its "grand entry" into the BJP-ruled state and an indication people were liking the party's "honest politics of work".

While AAP candidate Rani Agrawal won the mayoral seat in Singrauli, defeating her nearest BJP rival Chandrapratap Vishwakarma by a margin of 9,231 votes, the party said in a statement that its candidates won five seats of councillors as well in the municipal elections.

This was the first time the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested the civic polls in Madhya Pradesh. Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, had recently held a roadshow in support of Agrawal. "Many congratulations to AAP candidate Rani Agrawal ji, who won the post of mayor in the Singrauli Municipal Corporation of Madhya Pradesh, and all the winners and party workers," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi, and asked them to "work hard for the people".

People in every corner of the country are now liking the honest politics of work of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he added. "AAP's grand entry in Madhya Pradesh," the party tweeted, adding, "Our Mayoral candidate @AAPRaniAgrawal wins Singrauli. Congratulations to our winning councillors as well. Madhya Pradesh welcomes @ArvindKejriwal Model of Governance with open arms." In the mayoral elections held in 11 municipal corporations in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has emerged victorious at five places so far. While the counting of votes for the top civic post was still on in four other places, the latest trends showed the BJP and the Congress leading in two municipal corporations each, officials said.

The BJP won the mayoral elections in Burhanpur, Satna, Khandwa, Sagar and Ujjain, while the Congress won in Chhindwara. The results brought some respite for the opposition Congress with its win in Chhindwara and leads in two other places. In the last elections, the party had failed to win even one out of the total 16 corporations in the state. The local bodies elections in the state for 413 municipalities, including 16 nagar palika nigam, 99 nagar palika parishad and 298 nagar parishad, were held in two phases - on July 6 and 13.

Under the first phase, polling was held in 11 municipal corporations, 36 nagar palikas and 86 nagar parishads. The counting of votes for these elections began at 9 am on Sunday. In the first phase, elections for the post of mayor were held in Burhanpur, Satna, Khandwa, Sagar, Singrauli, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Chhindwara, Indore and Bhopal.