The ruling AAP is shining in the Punjab civic polls so far with the party winning 178 wards across the state so far, taking a commanding lead. The counting of votes for the Punjab civics body polls is currently underway across the state to declare the results of the 102 Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats.Counting underway for Punjab civic body polls. (Hindustan Times)The votes for the 102 civics bodies in Punjab were cast on Tuesday through ballot papers with more than 7,500 candidates in fray. The election is being seen as a semi final to the upcoming Punjab assembly elections where the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking to defy state’s general electoral history and retain power.Follow latest updates on Punjab civic body resultsPunjab civic body polls results: AAP shines, Congress and SAD play catch upAAP shines: The ruling AAP is shining through in the Punjab civic polls so far with the party winning 178 wards across the state so far, taking a commanding lead. The tally includes a clean sweep in Amritsar’s Rayya Nagar Panchayat, 9 of 15 wards in Jalandhar's Kartarpur. The party is also leading from various places in Bathinda, Hoshiarpur and other districts.Congress, SAD play catch up: Congress is a distant second in the results announced so far with 58 wards won. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is close on their heels at third with 53 ward victories so far, according to PTC News.Congress leading in Kapurthala: Congress is leading in the Kapurthala municipal corporation and is also leading in Tanda Urmur in Hoshiarpur district.SAD ahead in few places: has also taken many wards in different towns in party bastion Bathinda while also leading from Ludhiana’s Samrala.BJP nowhere to be seen: BJP has won just 7 wards across Punjab, according to the results announced so far. The party has vowed to fight the upcoming assembly elections solo in the state, but the current results, if they hold, will be a big jolt to the saffron party's aspirations in Punjab.More than 7,500 candidates in fray: The election process involved 7,554 contesting candidates across all urban local bodies. According to election officials, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded 1,801 candidates, while the Congress has fielded 1,550 candidates. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 1,316 candidates in the fray, and the Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded 1,251 candidates for the civic body polls.Decent voter turnout: Punjab witnessed an overall voter turnout of 63.94 per cent in the General Elections to Municipalities-2026 held on Tuesday, according to the official poll-day summary released by the State Election authorities.A total of 22,38,241 votes were polled across 102 municipalities, including Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. The elections covered 1,897 wards and 3,833 polling booths across the state. Among all categories, Nagar Panchayats recorded the highest voter turnout at 76.18 per cent, followed by Municipal Councils with 65.06 per cent. Municipal Corporations registered a turnout of 59.91 per cent.