CHANDIGARH: The BJP-SAD alliance swept the Chandigarh municipal corporation elections on Tuesday, winning 21out of the 26 seats, and immediately turned it into a victory of PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation initiative. While BJP won 20 seats, ally SAD took one.It was the Congress that had turned the election into an indirect referendum against 'notebandi', raising the issue more frequently than other local concerns. This made BJP take an even more aggressive stand with party president Amit Shah visiting Chandigarh last month and calling demonetisation a crusade against corruption.In the end, the Congress strategy backfired as it could win only four seats and that too in wards where SAD candidates were contesting. The one independent who won is a BJP rebel, ensuring a saffron wave in one of the greenest cities of India.BJP not only got full majority in the corporation but also received maximum votes from the city's poorer areas and villages whose residents are supposed to have been worst hit by demonetisation. There are 12 wards in the poorer sections where mostly migrants from UP , Bihar and Rajasthan live. BJP won 11of these. BJP's Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher said, “The people have voted in favour of demonetisation and against corruption. It's also the first major electoral win for BJP after demonetisation and reflects the country's mood on the issue.“ Even the biggest victory margin came from the poorer sections, with Anil Dubey of the BJP win ning ward 24 against Nasrullah Khan of the Congress by more than 9,000 votes. Not only did the BJP break into known Congress bastions, but its lesser known candidates defeated some local heavyweights of the party by decent margins. As many as four former Congress mayors lost.With assembly elections in Punjab just around the corner, the CM described the SAD-BJP win as “historic“ and said it will prove as a “trendsetter“ for back-to back-victories for the alliance for the third consecutive term in the assembly polls. Even former HP CM Prem Kumar Dhumal saw hope in coming back to power in the hill state after BJP's win in Chandigarh. He described the victory as a “trailer“ for HP and said people has accepted Centre's demonetisation move.“It is clear that every section of society, whether poor or the urban middle class, votes us. Obviously , demonetisation did not affect Chandigarh,“ said Satya Pal Jain, former BJP MP and prominent lawyer. The Congress rout may spell more trouble for former Union railways minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who had overseen the entire polling process for the party ­ from ticket distribution to framing strategies. Bansal had resigned as Union minister in the wake of the bribery scam and later lost the parliamentary election to Kher in 2014.On the other hand, the BJP victory may become a launch pad for Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon, the son of veteran BJP leader and Chhattisgarh governor Balram Das Tandon, who is looking for a larger role for himself in the party.