In a setback on Wednesday, the ruling BJP-JJP combined in Haryana was able to win just one of the three mayor seats for which elections were held recently. On Sunday the mayoral elections of the cities of Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat were held.
As the BJP struggled to win in Panchkula, Congress and the Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP) held mayoral positions in Sonipat and Ambala, respectively.
It was the first time that direct elections were held for the mayoral positions in the three cities.
The setback for the ruling coalition came as the BJP swept through mayoral elections in five Haryana cities two years ago.
In 2018, the party had won mayoral elections in Hisar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak and Yamunanagar.
In November this year, the ruling team failed to win the Baroda assembly by vote in Sonipat, and Congress retained the seat.
For the mayoral post in Ambala, HJCP’s Shakti Rani Sharma, wife of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, emerged as a surprise winner, defeating BJP’s Vandana Sharma by a margin of 8,084 votes.
The congressional candidate finished in fourth place, officials said.
The victory was a boost for the party led by Venod Sharma, which tasted its first victory after the 2014 Haryana assembly poll debacle.
Shakti Rani Sharma said her victory was due to the “love and support” of the people. When one’s intention is clear, people support it, he said.
Kulbushan Goyal of the BJP will be the new mayor of Panchkula. He defeated Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia from Congress by 2,057 votes.
For the mayoral elections in Panchkula, 1,333 voters exercised the NOTE option.
Congress won the Sonipat mayoral elections. Nikhil Madaan of the party defeated Lalit Batra of the BJP by 13,818 votes.
Elections were also held to elect councilors from all districts in the three cities. A vote was also taken to elect the president and members of the Rewari municipal council and the municipal committees of Sampla (Rohtak), Dharuhera (Rewari) and Ukalana (Hisar).
In Ambala MC’s polls, the BJP won eight of the 20 seats, HJCP 7, Congress 3, and Haryana Democratic Front 2.
In Sonipat, the BJP won 10 districts and Congress 9. In one seat, an Independiente was victorious.
In Panchkula, the BJP and Congress won nine and seven seats, respectively. The JJP won two.
The post of chairman of the Rewari municipal council was filled by Poonam Yadav of the BJP, who defeated independent candidate Upma Yadav by 2,087 votes. Congress slipped to third place here.
The combined BJP-JJP failed to hold chairman positions on three municipal committees in Dharuhera, Sampla and Uklana, where independents made a profit.
Kanwar Singh won from Dharuhera, defeating another independent candidate Deena Ram. At Sampla, Pooja defeated Sonu from BJP while Sushil Sahu Wala defeated Mahender Soni from JJP at Uklana.
.
