Chandigarh, March 12: Less than six months after scoring a hat-trick of wins in Haryana Assembly elections, the ruling BJP swept the civic polls in the state on Wednesday, bagging nine of the ten mayoral seats.
In the outgoing municipal corporations, BJP had its mayors in seven civic bodies.
The Congress, which was looking to turn around its electoral fortunes after suffering a defeat in the 2024 Assembly polls, failed to open its account. The opposition party lost in Sonipat, where it had its mayor, and Rohtak, considered a stronghold of its stalwart and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Seven of the ten candidates who won the mayor’s post are women, six of them from the ruling BJP.
Celebrations erupted in the BJP camp after the results, with party leaders in Chandigarh and other districts distributing sweets. There were early Holi festivities as jubilant BJP members applied ‘gulal’ (colour) to each other.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the victory is an expression of people’s unwavering faith in the development works of the state government headed by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. “I want to assure people of the state that we will spare no effort in fulfilling their expectations and aspirations,” he said on X.
The hard work of the party’s dedicated workers played a big role in this grand victory, he said, praising their efforts.
Chief Minister Saini said people have put their stamp of approval on the works and policies of the BJP government and formed a “triple-engine government” that will work at a fast pace to realise the resolve of “developed Haryana-developed India”.
Independent candidate Inderjeet Yadav was the only non-BJP nominee to win a mayoral seat. She was elected from Manesar, where municipal elections were held for the first time.
The six women BJP candidates who won the mayoral posts are from Gurugram, Faridabad, Karnal, Panipat, Ambala and Yamunanagar.
Polls to elect mayors and ward members in seven municipal corporations — Gurugram, Manesar, Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal and Yamunanagar — were held on March 2.
The bypolls for the mayoral posts in Ambala and Sonipat and the elections for presidents and ward members in 21 municipal committees and four municipal councils were also held that day.
For the Panipat Municipal Corporation, polling was held on March 9 to elect the mayor and 26 councillors.
According to a statement by the state BJP, the party also captured several seats in four municipal councils and 21 municipal committees for which polls were held including Sirsa and Julana. (PTI)
