Chandigarh, Dec 19 (AHN) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Friday said the party had actually come second in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Punjab and it also had a better overall strike rate than the Congress because it contested 673 lesser seats than it due to large scale rejection of nomination papers of its candidates.

Badal, who honoured party Muktsar in charge Kanwarjit Singh Barkandi as well as all Zila Parishad and Block Samiti winners, at his residence in Badal village said the most number of nominations of SAD candidates were rejected in the just concluded elections because the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government feared the Akali Dal the most.

“The Aam Aadmi Party was able to get its 351 candidates elected unopposed out of a total of 2,838 Block Samiti seats by using unfair means. It also succeeded in getting 1,024 nomination papers of SAD candidates rejected on flimsy grounds or simply tore them,” a party statement quoting Badal said.

He said in the Block Samitis, the Akali Dal won 445 seats out of 1,814 seats and its strike rate is much better that the Congress that contested on 2,487 seats.

Speaking about the huge victories the party has notched in Bathinda, Muktsar and Faridkot, Badal said the party would be able to get its candidates elected as Zila Parishad Chairpersons in these districts.

He said the party was also likely to get its candidate elected as Chairpersons in nearly 15 constituencies, including the Mansa Block Samiti with one Independent candidate -- Raswinder Singh from Chakriya village -- joining the party to take its strength to 13 in a 25-member House.

Congratulating the Muktsar assembly team of the party for its overwhelming victory in the elections, Badal said SAD candidates won two out of the two Zila Parishad seats and 17 out of the 20 Block Samiti seats in the Muktsar Sahib constituency.

He also pointed out that nearly a dozen senior leaders of AAP, including ministers and MLAs, couldn’t even win their home seats in Block samiti elections.