BJP’s defeat was churning the Congress party as it suffered sequential defeats in Haryana, this time in its power hub of Rohtak. In the Haryana Local elections, Bharatiya Janata Party won nine out of ten mayor seats including crucial cities like Gurugram and Rohtak. The BJP’s only loss came in Manesar where independent candidate Inderjit Yadav emerged victorious. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was quite happy with the results, stating the public endorsed their ‘triple engine’ rule which refers to BJP operating at the central, state, and local levels simultaneously.
He added that this success would further strengthen the vision of viksit Bharat (developed India) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Haryana’s Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda did seem to share the same thoughts, emphasizing that with the increased mandate, the BJP will ensure that the state is developed at a relatively quicker rate. In Gurugram, Raj Rani has won the mayoral election with a commanding victory against her rival, Congress’s Seema Pahuja, whom she beat by over one hundred thousand votes. Correspondingly, in Rohtak, Surajmal Kiloi of Congress was beaten decisively by Ram Avtar of the BJP who won by more than forty-five,45,000 votes.
The Rohtak loss was particularly damaging for the Congress, long considered a bastion of Bhupinder Hooda’s authority. The Congress party contested the first local polls and used its symbol after years in the Haryana local elections. However, it was not enough against the BJP’s vigorous campaign that saw top leaders like Rajasthan Chief Minister Nayab Saini along with the newly sworn-in Chief Minister of Delhi Rekha Gupta, joining forces.
The Congress, meanwhile, had parachuted in Sachin Pilot and Hooda trying to get their base going but the verdict remained resoundingly in the favor of the BJP. The BJP extended its winning momentum in other cities too. In Ambala, BJP candidate Shailja Sachdeva defeated Congress’ Amisha Chawla by 20,487 votes. In Faridabad, BJP’s Parveen Joshi beat Congress’ Lata Rani.
Hisar saw BJP’s Praveen Popli win with ease against Congress’ Krishan Singla. BJP’s Renu Bala Gupta defeated Congress’ Manoj Wadhwa in Karnal, and BJP’s Komal Saini defeated Congress’ Savita Garg in Panipat. BJP also won mayoral posts in Sonipat, where Rajiv Jain beat Congress’ Komal Dewan, and Yamunanagar, where Suman beat Congress’ Kirna Devi. The polls registered a considerably poor voting percentage, with just 41% of the voters exercising their franchise, registering a steep fall from the last Assembly elections’ 68% voting figure.
Candidates were elected uncontested in some of the wards, such as Kuldeep Singh (Faridabad), Vikas Yadav (Gurugram), Sankalp Bhandari and Sanjeev Kumar Mehta (Karnal), and Bhavna (Yamunanagar). Low poll turnout has made people worry over waning people’s interest in local body elections, even when they have direct bearing on government and development. The win has further established the BJP dominance over Haryana’s politics and left the Congress fighting to take back its share. The wins are an evidence of the sweeping preference for BJP’s style of governance and hint that the BJP is still overwhelming the state’s politics.
Edited by Saumya Sharan
