Chandigarh: After Wednesday’s poll results, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently ruling Haryana in alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), claimed to have gained control over 28 (60%) out of 46 municipal bodies.It includes the BJP’s own wins in 22 municipal bodies and three of its ally. Three others, it claimed, were won by party-backed independents.BJP Haryana chief O.P. Dhankar told the media that the message is clear that the people have preferred the “triple engine” government of the BJP.But there is something in the election result that sounds alarming for the saffron party.With just one win, Aam Aadmi Party’s debut performance in Haryana municipal polls may look weak. But the silver lining for the party is that it managed to get more than 10% of the votes – compared to the 26% that the BJP-JJP – in municipal elections where 12.8 lakh voters cast their votes.Apart from ward-wise polls, there was a direct election for the post of president in all 46 municipal bodies.A closer look at the result revealed that in most of the places where AAP candidates have done well, the party had a direct fight with BJP.For instance, AAP had a convincing win in the Ismailabad municipal body of Kurukshetra district where its candidate seized the post of president by defeating the BJP candidate.Representational image. BJP workers celebrate during the counting day of Kerala local body elections, in Kozhikode, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. Photo: PTIBJP candidates narrowly won the post of president in Pehowa, Gharaunda and Kundli municipal bodies with just 55, 31 and 77 votes due to the stiff competition from AAP candidates.Check this: BJP’s new president of Pehowa municipal committee (Kurukshetra district) polled 9,312 votes against 9,257 votes for AAP’s Anil Dhawan.In Kundli municipal committee (Sonepat district), BJP’s winning candidate Shimla Singh polled 1,987 votes against 1,910 votes for AAP’s Kumari Anjali.In Gharaunda municipal committee that falls in chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s home district Karnal, BJP’s winning candidate Happy Lucky Gupta polled 5,108 votes against 5,077 votes to AAP’s Surinder Kumar.AAP’s best performance was in the Bhiwani municipal council where its candidate Indu polled over 21,000 votes against 25,000 votes for the winning candidate, a BJP rebel.Also read: As Chandigarh Emerges Flashpoint, Is AAP Willing to Damage its Prospects in Haryana?AAP candidate from Sohana in Gurugram district polled more than 10,300 votes, 1,800 less than BJP’s winning candidate.In municipal body elections of other big cities like Kaithal, Pawal and Jind, AAP candidates got 13,343, 10,416 and 9,374 votes respectively.In Ladwa (Kurukshetra), the AAP candidate polled more than 4,400 votes, 1,400 fewer votes than BJP winning candidate. In Palwal municipal council election, the AAP candidate again got more than 10000 votesAAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Photo: Twitter/@AAPHaryana‘AAP eyeing same vote bank as that of BJP’Overall, AAP showed promising performance in municipal bodies in Bhiwani, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal and Gurugram, which otherwise are a big support base for the ruling BJP.Political analyst Kushal Pal told The Wire that ever since the BJP’s rise in Haryana in 2014, it has largely been a party of urban and semi-urban voters, mostly relying on non-jats.The AAP’s increasing footprint in Haryana, as reflected in municipal polls, is an alarm bell for BJP.“It has been clear that AAP is trying to capture the same urban/semi-urban and upper caste vote bank that was vital for BJP’s rise in Haryana,” he added.Pal said that part of the reason for AAP’s support base in Brahmin and Bania communities is AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal himself who was born in Haryana’s Bania community in the Bhiwani district.He, however, said that AAP can’t alone form a government just on the basis of the upper caste support base.Kausal Pal said the support of Dalits and the OBC community is the big factor in BJP’s rise apart from its core upper caste voters.“What I believe is that AAP must try a new kind of political experiment by forming a coalition of all castes within the party, rather than becoming a party of Jats or non-Jats as it has been the practice so far in the state,” said Pal.He added they must groom leaders at the district level who can at least swing 5,000-10,000 votes in their areas.“If AAP thinks that they can win Haryana just by making hawa as it did in Punjab, it is not possible here. They have made a decent start with municipal body polls. It is time to capitalise on it by strengthening the party at the grassroots. They must raise issues connected with people,” he added.Meanwhile, AAP’s electoral performance was far better than that of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which was once the dominant political force in the state but polled not more than 4% in the latest municipal polls elections.AAP’s performance vis-a-vis principal opposition party Congress could not be compared since its candidates did not fight this election on their election symbol due to intense infighting. Post verdict, the Congress claimed that its candidates had seized control in more than a dozen municipal bodies.Deepender Hooda, son of former Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said in a statement that the BJP’s vote share in the civic body polls dropped and it is a sign of its support base dwindling.He added if the BJP gets only 26% votes in the urban centres, then one can imagine what will happen to it in the panchayat elections.But the Congress needs to get its act together as well in the wake of AAP’s increasing footprint. Their leaders are deeply divided. It recently lost the Rajya Sabha election despite requisite strength in the Haryana assembly.The coming panchayat election is very important from Congress’s perspective, given that it has a major support base in villages. All eyes will be on how AAP strategies in panchayat polls after its performance in municipal bodies.