BJP wins only one chairperson seat in eight other local bodies in Ghaziabad

On Saturday, independent candidate Mohini Sharma won the chairperson seat of Khoda, defeating Reena Bhati of the BJP, who could secure only 27273 votes

The winning streak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the municipal corporation has come to an end in eight other local bodies in Ghaziabad. In four Nagar Palikas of Loni, Khoda, Modinagar, and Muradnagar, the party’s candidates lost three of the four chairperson seats they previously held. Similarly, in the four Nagar Panchayats of Patla, Niwari, Faridnagar, and Dasna, the BJP candidates failed to secure a win.

Officials counting votes from ballot paper at Ghaziabad Govindpuram Anaj Mandi in Ghaziabad , India on Saturday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

On Saturday, independent candidate Mohini Sharma won the chairperson seat of Khoda, defeating Reena Bhati of the BJP, who could secure only 27273 votes.

Mohini’s husband, former MLA Amarpal Sharma, was accused of hatching a conspiracy in the murder case of Gajendra Bhati, the husband of Reena Bhati, owing to political rivalry, and went to jail in 2017.

On the other hand, Ranjita Dhama (former BJP) of the Rashtriya Lok Dal secured 105282 votes, marking a win for the chairperson seat of Loni and defeating her nearest BJP rival Pushpa Devi who could secure only 87173 votes. Her husband Manoj Dhama won the chairperson seat in 2012 on a BJP ticket while Ranjita Dhama herself won the seat in 2017 on a BJP ticket and repeated the feat in 2023.

Whereas, in Muradnagar, the chairperson seat was won by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Chammi Chaudhary, the wife of former MLA Wahab Chaudhary, securing 19244 votes while her nearest independent rival Rekha secured 17854 votes.

BJP candidate Rama Devi could secure only 12576 votes and remained in the third spot.

The BJP’s only consolation win was at Modinagar, where its chairperson candidate Vinod won by securing 62640 votes and defeating his nearest Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Jagmohan Singh who only secured 15982 votes.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP had not secured any of the four chairperson seats of the four Nagar Panchayats of Patla, Niwari, Faridnagar, and Dasna. The situation repeated in 2023, with the Samajwadi Party candidate Anil winning the Niwari chairperson seat, Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate Rita winning the Patla seat, Bage Jahan winning the chairperson seat from Dasna, and the Faridnagar chairperson seat being won by Reshma from Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram).

“There have been some issues in our party in Nagar Palikas and Nagar Panchayats and these could result due to caste considerations, consolidation of minority votes, and other factors. We will brainstorm these results as well. The Nagar Panchayat level election is at the very local level. So, nothing much could be predicted,” said Dinesh Singhal, district president of the BJP.