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Haryana civic body polls: BJP cruises to comfortable win, Independents put up good show
Saffron party wins 22 posts while Independents bag 19; BJP’s alliance partner JJP manages to secure three seats
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored an impressive win in the Haryana’s civic body polls by winning 22 seats of presidents in the 46 municipal committees and councils elections, the results of which were declared on Wednesday.
Also elected on Wednesday are 456 members of 18 councils and 432 members of 28 committees, most of whom did not contest on party symbols.
It was for the first time that the voters directly elected the presidents of the civic bodies in what was a departure from previous practice of the elected members of these bodies electing the president(s) from among themselves. In the municipal corporation polls held in mid-2019, the state government had introduced direct election of mayor.
Clearly, the Independents halted the BJP’s victory march by winning 19 posts of presidents. The BJP’s alliance partner Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) stumbled and won three posts of presidents while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the party that once ruled Haryana, managed to win one seat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had raised the bogey of anti-incumbency, corruption and non-performance against the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP-JJP coalition government, won a single president’s post in the Ismailabad municipal committee of the Kurukshetra district.
The BJP’s candidates lost on 11 seats of the total 33 seats the party contested on party symbols for the post of presidents, while the JJP suffered setbacks on five of the total eight seats.
The alliance partners did not contest president’s election on party symbols in five civic bodies. And the principal opposition Congress stayed away from the civic body polls and had announced that it will support independent candidates.
“Our stand about civic body polls was clear that the Congress will not contest...Therefore, there is no question of defeat and victory of the Congress,” Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said.
Chief minister Khattar tweeted his congratulations to BJP candidates who won and dedicated the party’s performance to party workers, while deputy CM Dushyant Chautala said the outcome was “positive”.
Khattar said that victory of the BJP-JJP candidates who have won the seats of presidents shows that the people are satisfied with the policies and programmes of the state government.
According to political analysts, the BJP’s win clearly points towards the saffron party retaining its grip in urban belts --- the core support base of the party in Haryana.
The BJP has been in power in Haryana since October 2014 and the BJP-JJP combine’s current term will end in October 2024.
“The voters generally support the party in power in such elections. The fact that BJP-JJP still has more than two years’ term left has definitely tilted the tide in favour of the ruling coalition,” said a political analysts, refusing to be identified.
The poll outcome indicates that BJP candidates contesting for the post of presidents -- both councils and committees -- registered victories in the assembly segments of Congress and Independent MLAs.
Also, the BJP-JJP won all the three posts of presidents in Muslim-dominated Mewat district. The BJP won Ferozepur Jhirka and Puhana, while the JJP bagged Nuh, the assembly segment also represented by the Congress.
Of the total 12 posts of committee presidents the BJP has won, at least six seats were secured in assembly segments of Congress MLAs.
The JJP lost president’s posts in Uchana, the constituency of deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, Tohana (represented by JJP minister Devinder Babli), Barwala and Narwana, the segments of JJP MLAs Jogi Ram Sihag and Ram Niwas. In Narwana contest, JJP was relegated to sixth position. The JJP nominee also lost from Mandi Dabwali, a constituency represented by Amit Sihag of the Congress.
Not only the BJP suffered setbacks at chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s home turf Karnal, the party nominees lost presidents’ poll in Ratia, Narnaul, Hodal, Bawal, Hansi and Bhiwani, all represented by BJP MLAs.
The BJP also lost in Bawal and Narnaul, the assembly segments of BJP ministers Banwari Lal and Om Prakash Yadav, which could be a matter of concern for the party.
9,309 voters go for NOTA option
As many as 9,309 votes in the Haryana civic body polls were cast in the ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) category on June 19, as per figures assessed by HT on election commission’s website.
In Palwal municipal council , a total of 853 voters casted their vote to NOTA, followed by 599 in Jind, 598 in Bhiwani, 579 in Bahadurgarh and 521 in Narnaul.
While a total of 29 voters opted NOTA in Nangal Chaudhary, which is lowest in the state, Nissing followed with 30 votes, Sadhaura 44, Rajaund 46, Uchana 47 and Ferozepur Jhirka 48.
In Karnal’s Gharaunda municipal committee, NOTA polled 93 votes which turned out to be a spoiler in the winning margin.
BJP’s Happy Gupta defeated AAP’s Surinder Kumar by just 31 votes.
