Chandigarh:- Addressing reporters here on Friday evening, Mann commented on the available results and trends and said, "The people of Punjab have defeated the politics of hate and supported the politics of development. They have rejected those parties that indulge in divisive politics."
He said that the people have supported the development works carried out by the AAP government. Mann said that this was not the first election after AAP came to power after winning the 2022 assembly elections by a landslide. He said that AAP had also won in the previous elections, be it panchayat elections, assembly by-elections or Lok Sabha by-elections.
He said that every time "friends in the media" used to call these elections semi-finals before the 2027 assembly elections.
Mann said that he has been saying since the beginning that the pulse of the people is in favour of AAP and the party will win the assembly elections to be held next year as well. Calling BJP the "ED party", Mann claimed that as per the available results and trends of the municipal elections, it is at the fifth position and the deposits of 1,100 candidates of the opposition party have been forfeited. "Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP together cannot cross the number of wards won by us," Mann said. He claimed that AAP will win in more than 1,000 wards. The Chief Minister said that the BJP-led central government had tried to misuse the ED and other central agencies to harass AAP ministers and leaders. "They also roped in seven of our Rajya Sabha members and tried to create a narrative that AAP will break up," he said. Mann said that people have shown in the municipal elections that they reject such politics.