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Panchkula, Ambala vote today
In Panchkula, six candidates, including two Independents, are in fray for the coveted mayor’s post while 87 are vying for 20 councillor’s seats in the city
From how smooth your everyday commute will be, to how clean your surroundings are, and how safe you will feel while walking on the streets of Panchkula and Ambala over the next five years will all depend on who you pick as your mayor and ward councillor today.
In Panchkula, six candidates, including two Independents, are in fray for the coveted mayor’s post while 87 are vying for 20 councillor’s seats in the city. Panchkula and Ambala vote its mayor through direct elections, meaning that voters will be picking their councillors and mayors simultaneously.
Neighbour Chandigarh elects its mayor through indirect elections – voters first pick their ward councillors who in turn vote to elect a mayor for a one-year term. Panchkula and Ambala get its senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor through indirect elections.
Issues that matter for Panchkula
Panchkula faces multiple civic issues, ranging from dilapidated roads, poor waste management practices, erratic potable water supply, non-functional streetlights and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, a gnawing stray dog and cattle menace.
For a common man, this translates into bumpy rides, monitoring water supply timings, dodging stray animals, if not walking under the constant worry of being targeted by snatchers and other anti-social elements. At the macro level, poor waste management practices have led to the city slipping in Swachh rankings. In 2024-25, Panchkula recorded its poorest-ever national ranking of 219, from the 139th the year before in the 50,000 to 3 lakh population category. The city’s waste segregation at source remains critically low at just 20%, while door-to-door garbage collection has reached only 61% of households. The city lacks dedicated processing facilities for horticultural and construction and demolition waste, leading to indiscriminate dumping across roadsides, markets, and vacant plots.
This even as multiple governments over the years, have promised to turn Panchkula into India’s Paris.
In the lead up to the elections, the ₹160 crore fixed deposit receipts (FDR) fraud of Panchkula MC funds remained a hotly debated issue. Funds meant to be used for improving civic amenities were siphoned off by bank officials in connivance with civic body officials. All parties fighting the elections have promised to take corrective measures and fix responsibility of those dealing MC finances to avoid a repeat of such an instance.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is fighting anti-incumbency, is banking on the triple-engine pitch, stating that the same government at the Centre, state and ward level would ensure faster development. The party brought in multiple star campaigners, including North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and singer Masoom Sharma, during extensive grassroots outreach activities in favour of mayoral candidate Shyam Lal Bansal. Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini also addressed multiple rallies and Jan Sabhas in the city.
The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) raised multiple civic issues during their poll campaigns, targeting the BJP-led MC over civic issues and the FDR fraud. The Congress, which had won seven seats in the 2020 civic body elections, also alleged the presence of over 8,500 duplicate voters in the electoral rolls and called for a fair and transparent election process.
To ensure smooth voting today, Panchkula police will deploy 1,535 personnel across the city.
Deputy commissioner of police Srishti Gupta said free and fair elections are the police’s top priority, adding that preventive action has been taken against 287 persons under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, to maintain law and order.
Issues that matter for Ambala
In Ambala, a seat reserved for Backward Class-B (Woman), a triangular contest has emerged between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and an opposition-backed Independent candidate for the mayor’s post. The city has nearly 1.98 lakh voters and 65 candidates vying for 20 seats in the House.
The BJP has fielded 32-year-old Akshita Saini while the Congress has nominated 60-year-old Kulwinder Kaur. Both are fighting their maiden elections. Sonia Rani, an Independent candidate, has received backing from the AAP and INLD. In the outgoing House, the mayor’s post was held by BJP’s Shailja Sachdeva. Like Panchkula, Ambala too faces its share of civic issues, including drainage, sanitation, dog bites, corruption and others.
