Chandigarh, May 29 : The ruling AAP in Punjab has been making substantial leads as per early vote count trends on Friday for the election to Urban Local Bodies. The main Opposition Congress and the regional outfit Shiromani Akali Dal are neck-to-neck.

The AAP won 178 wards, while the Congress and SAD tally stood at 58 and 53 wards, respectively, till 11 A.M.

The elections are seen as a litmus test for the AAP just ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, slated in early 2027.

The state on May 26 went to the polls to elect representatives in 102 civic bodies, comprising eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats.

The elections covered 1,897 wards that saw a voter turnout of 63.94 per cent. A total of 7,554 candidates are in the fray across all Urban Local Bodies.

The eight municipal corporations are in Abohar, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala and Pathankot.

Of the total candidates in the fray, 1,801 belong to the AAP, 1,550 to the Congress, 1,316 to the BJP, 1,251 to the SAD, and 96 to the BSP, while 1,528 are Independent and 13 other candidates.

Nagar panchayats recorded the highest voter turnout at 76.18 per cent, followed by Municipal Councils with 65.06 per cent and Municipal Corporations 59.91 per cent.

According to the state Election Commission, Municipal Corporations accounted for 10.71 lakh electors, of whom 6.41 lakh cast their votes. Municipal Councils had the largest electorate, with over 22.87 lakh voters, and nearly 14.88 lakh votes were cast. In Nagar Panchayats, over 1.07 lakh votes were recorded out of 1.41 lakh electors.

Polling day saw clashes involving supporters of the BJP, Congress, AAP, and the Akali Dal and allegations of booth capturing were reported at several places.

In Raikot, Congress candidate from Ward 4, Jagdev Singh Jagga, was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons by a group of men, while in Barnala the husband of BJP candidate Deepinder Kaur from Ward 15 was allegedly assaulted after objecting to suspected bogus voting.

Clashes were also reported in Gidderbaha in Muktsar district, where supporters of AAP and the Akali Dal confronted each other during polling in Wards 18 and 19.

State Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Congress legislator Partap Singh Bajwa condemned the incident and slammed the AAP government over the law and order situation in the state.

/IANS