Panchkula MC elections: BJP’s Bansal to take on Congress’ Bhardwaj

Within the Congress too, there was stiff competition between former Haryana Congress Mahila Morcha president Sudha Bhardwaj and senior leader Ravindra Rawal for the ticket

Seventy-one-year-old Sham Lal Bansal, a long-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) associate, is set to take on Congress’ Sudha Bhardwaj, 65, in the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC) election, scheduled for May 10.

Bansal’s candidature was finalised after consultations with the party’s national leadership, those in the know of the matter said. (HT File)

Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli announced Bansal’s candidature on Wednesday. Outgoing mayor Kulbhushan Goyal, who had defeated Panchkula’s first woman mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia of the Congress, in the 2020 elections, was also in the race for a ticket, but the BJP ultimately reposed faith in Bansal.

His candidature was finalised after consultations with the party’s national leadership, those in the know of the matter said.

Within the Congress too, there was stiff competition between former Haryana Congress Mahila Morcha president Sudha Bhardwaj and senior leader Ravindra Rawal for the ticket.

Cong, AAP declare their ward candidates

While the BJP is yet to announce names of its ward nominees,

Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Rao Narender Singh named candidates for all, but three wards, for the upcoming polls. The Panchkula MC has 20 wards.

The party has decided to go with Payal Sodhi for Ward 1, Rajnish Singla for Ward 3, Rajiv Chaudhary for Ward 4, Vijay Sharma for Ward 5, Darshan Lal for Ward 6, Pankaj Balmiki for Ward 7, Usha Rani for Ward 8, Surinder Singh for Ward 9, Baljit Singh for Ward 10, Anju for Ward 11, Jagjit Sodhi for Ward 12, Akshaydeep Chaudhary for Ward 13, Saraswati Devi for Ward 15, Mukesh Siswal for Ward 17, Amandeep Kaur for Ward 18, Nazma for Ward 19, and Vikas Rana for Ward 20. It has kept the names for Ward 2 (general, women), Ward 14 (general) and ward 16 (SC, women) pending.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too declared candidates for 11 wards late in the evening. The party has named Amrit Kaur for Ward 1, Vishal Bhateja for Ward 5, Rakesh Malik for Ward 7, Vinod Kumar for Ward 8, Manjesh Kumar for Ward 10, Sanjeev Kumar for Ward 12, Vishal Bhardwaj for Ward 13, Sumit Kumar for Ward 14, Pinky for Ward 15, Roshni Devi for Ward 16, and Ashok Kumar for Ward 17. It has, however, not declared its mayoral candidate.

The Indian National Lok Dal will declare the names of its mayoral and ward candidates on Thursday, said a party spokesperson.