Setback for saffron brigade on Khattar’s home turf

KARNAL: Haryana’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won only one of the four municipal committee president posts in Karnal district, losing the other three seats in the home turf of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar to independent candidates.

The BJP and its alliance partner Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala fielded candidates for Assandh, Gharuanda and Taraori municipal committees.

A 70% polling was reported for elections on Sunday for the 46 municipal councils and committees across Haryana. The BJP has won 22 posts, alliance partner JJP 3 and Independents 19. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) clinched its first victory in the local body election, winning the president’s post in Ismailabad municipal committee in Kurukshetra district.

Chief minister Khattar tweeted his congratulations to BJP candidates who won and dedicated the party’s performance to party workers.

But back home in Karnal, the BJP suffered a setback.

According to results announced by the state election commission, the BJP’s Happy Luck Gupta won the Gharaunda municipal committee president’s post by a narrow margin of 31 votes over the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Surinder Singla. Gupta polled 5,108 votes against Singla’s 5,077.

For Assandh municipal committee, an independent candidate Satish Kataria, who was supported by former Congress legislator Zile Ram Sharma was elected president with 4,408, defeating the BJP-JJP candidate Kamaljeet Ladi with a margin of 518 votes.

In Taroari, independent candidate Surinder Bansal secured 7,069 votes, defeating the BJP’s Rajiv Narang by a margin of 538 votes. Bansal was supported by Nilokheri legislator Dharampal Gonder, an Independent who backs the BJP-JJP government.

A local BJP leader Janak Raj Popli contested from the fourth municipal committee in Nissing as an Independent. Popli secured 2,175 votes in the Sikh-dominated area and lost to another Independent candidate Romi Singla who received 4,473 votes.

The BJP did well in the neighbouring district of Panipat where the party’s Ashok Kuchhal won the president’s election for the Samalkha municipal committee, defeating Independent candidate Sanjya Kumar by a margin of 2,625 votes.

AAP fielded Bharat Singh Chhokker from the seat but he declared on polling day that he was withdrawing from the race. Chhokker received 1,273 votes.

BJP MANAGED TO WIN ONLY ONE OF THE FOUR MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE PRESIDENT POSTS IN KARNAL DISTRICT