The ruling Bharatiya Janta Party has registered a clean sweep, winning all five mayoral posts in the elections to five municipal corporations in Haryana.
The saffron party registered victory with a huge margin for the seats of mayor in five municipal corporations including Hisar, Rohtak, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Karnal, elections for which were held on December 16.
The mayors of these five MCs have been elected directly for the first time by the voters in the state.
The ruling BJP, however, had to be content with 62 seats out of 107 wards it contested in five MCs. The results sprung a surprise as independent candidates managed to win on 48 seats out of 110 wards in these MCs. The elections were also held in 13 wards each in two municipal committees including Jakhal Mandi (Fatehabad) and Pundri (Kaithal).
This closely watched high-stake electoral battle was widely seen as a popularity test for Chief Minister Manohar Lal, after more than four years in office in Haryana.
Haryana civic body election had also evoked national interest after BJP’s recent defeat in assembly polls in five states.
The BJP had contested from all the seats of mayor and of 107 wards of municipal corporations while Bahujan Samaj Party and CPI (M) contested on their symbols on one seat each in mayoral polls. The main opposition party, Indian National Lok Dal had contested the election from three seats of mayor including Hisar, Panipat and Rohtak and failed to secure even second spot in terms of number of votes.
While the Congress did not contest on its party symbol, it had announced support for several candidates in the elections.
Unlike the opposition parties, the ruling BJP led by Manohar Lal went full throttle in the civic body polls. Manohar Lal’s intensive campaign had raised the stakes for himself and the BJP in the polls.
In Chief Minister’s constituency Karnal, BJP’s mayoral candidate Renu Bala won by a margin of 9348 votes from independent Asha Wadhwa, who was backed by both Congress and Indian National Lok Dal. Renu Bala bagged 69960 votes
In Panipat, BJP’s candidate Avneet registered victory by a huge margin of 74940 against independent Anshu Pahwa. Avneet was polled 126321 votes.
In Jat heartland of Rohtak also, BJP managed to register a victory with its candidate Manmohan Goyal defeating independent Sitaram Sachdev by a margin of 14776 votes. Manmohan bagged 65822 votes.
The victory in Rohtak, the home-turf of two-time former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has given a much-needed shot in the arm to the BJP while it has caused concern for the Congress. Bhupinder Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda, who is MP from Rohtak were backing independent Sitaram Sachdeva.
BJP’s Gautam Sardana in Hisar also secured an easy win against independent Rekha Aren, who was supported by Congress leaders. Gautam was polled 68196 votes and managed to win by a margin of 28091 votes.
In Yamunanagar, BJP’s candidate Madan Singh recorded a comfortable victory with a margin of 40678 votes against independent Rakesh Kumar. While Madam Singh was polled 91642 votes, Rakesh Kumar bagged 50964 votes.
As far as election of councilors/ward members in five MCs is concerned, BJP won seven seats out of 20 wards in Hisar, 12 out of 20 wards in Karnal, 22 out of 26 wards in Panipat, eight wards out of total 22 in Rohtak and 13 out of 22 wards in Yamunanagar.
The civic body election was a big test for Chief Minister Manohar Lal’s performance, which he seems to have passed with flying colours. Also, the victory is more comforting for the BJP with the main opposition party INLD, not being able to secure even the second spot in three MCs, it contested for mayoral position.
In Rohtak, INLD’s candidate Sanchit Nandal finished at third spot, Priyanka Kashyap in Panipat managed fourth position and Amit Saini in Hisar finished at sixth spot with just 2536 votes. INLD alliance partner, BSP’s candidate Sandeep Kumar Goel managed to get third spot in Yamunanagar.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal has termed BJP’s victory as a stamp of approval by the citizens to his government’s performance.
The political observers feel that the outcome of the municipal polls would have its bearing on the high-stake Lok Sabha and assembly polls scheduled next year in Haryana.
The BJP’s victory on five mayoral posts indicates that the citizens have given a positive nod to Chief Minister’s campaign on good governance and graft-free system in Haryana, they say.
The results also indicates that opposed to the popular opinion, the voters did not take adverse view of State Government’s handling of law and order situation during major incidents of Jat agitation and Dera violence in Haryana, the political observers feel.