MCG polls: Congress extends support to four more independent candidates

Congress had earlier pledged support to 10 independents

In an interesting political twist that the Gurgaon voters are likely to experience in the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), local Congress leaders on Tuesday announced their support to four more independent candidates contesting the polls on Sunday.

Local Congress leaders decided to back independents after the high command shot down their request to contest the MCG polls on party ticket. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The first and the only MCG election, so far, was held in May 2011 and the inception of the municipality followed three years later. The second MCG polls were delayed by more than 16 months. The state election commissioner announced the date of the second MCG election as recently as August 30.

Like previous MCG elections, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are contesting on their respective party symbols, while the Congress decided to continue with its policy of not contesting on its symbol, despite murmurs of dissent from some quarters.

After their request to the high command to contest the MCG polls on the party symbol was shot down, local Congress leaders, on Sunday, announced their support to as many as 10 independent candidates. The same was followed by their declaration of support to four more independents on Tuesday.

Yadav said, “The candidates we are backing have been working very hard and are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the city and its people. They want to improve civic condition of the city, as it is not up to the mark.”

Unlike the previous MCG election in which 370 candidates were in fray, the 2017 election will be fought by 202 nominees. The BJP has fielded candidates for all the 35 wards, while INLD is contesting 23 wards. There are 144 independent candidates in the fray as well.

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The four candidates whom the Congress pledged their support for on Tuesday are Pradip Singh Dahia from ward 11, Abhay Jain from ward 18, Inder Singh from ward 19 and Kavita from ward 26. The ten candidates who the Congress declared they would support, earlier, are Parveen Yadav from ward 4, Naresh Sehrawat from ward 6, Promilla Kablana from ward 9, Seema Pahuja from ward 15, Rajni Sahni from ward 17, Pardeep Jaildar from ward 28, Alka Dalal from ward 29, Anju Sharma from ward 32, Jagmohan from ward 34 and Pushpa Sunder Singh from ward 35.