The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday won the election for the mayor’s post for Sonipat and Panchkula municipal corporations respectively. Former Union Minister Venod Sharma’s Haryana Jan Chetna Party (V) candidate and his wife Shakti Rani was elected mayor of Ambala.
The elections for the posts of mayor and ward members for three municipal corporations, along with Rewari municipal council and municipal committees of Dharuhera, Uklana and Sampla were held on December 27.
Contesting the municipal bodies election on the party symbol in Haryana for the first time, the Congress recorded a landslide win in Sonipat with the party candidate Nikhil Madaan, a close confidante of Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, trouncing his nearest rival and BJP candidate Lalit Batra by over 13,000 votes, the highest victory margin for the post in the three corporations.
Close on the heels of Baroda by-poll win, the victory reaffirmed Hoodas political influence in Sonipat.
The BJP managed a narrow win in Panchkula with its candidate Kulbhushan Goyal defeating Congress candidate Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia by just 2,057 votes.
In Ambala, Ms. Rani defeated BJP’s Vandana Sharma by 8,084 votes. Congress’ Meena Aggarwal with 13,797 votes stood a distant fourth.
Congress State chief Kumari Selja said that party had fared badly both in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections in Ambala and this election was a challenge for them. She, however, added that the party won one of the three elections for mayor’s post and lost in Panchkula by a whisker.
The BJP also won the election for the post of president in Rewari municipal council. Though the Congress represents Rewari in Vidhan Sabha, its candidate, Vikram Yadav, stood a distant third and polled 15,271 votes.
The Jannayak Janata Party lost both Uklana and Dharuhera president posts to Independents.
