Gurgaon civic body polls: Setback for BJP, independent candidates win 21 out of 35 seats

Gurgaon civic body polls: In a big setback for BJP, independent candidates have won 21 out of 35 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections. (IE image)

Gurgaon civic body polls: In a big setback for BJP, independent candidates have won 21 out of 35 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections, according to Indian Express report. The elections were held yesterday. The ruling dispensation in the state- BJP has won 13 seats. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has managed to secure just one seat. BJP Haryana spokesperson Raman Malik claimed that most of the independents who attained victory had earlier approached the BJP for a ticket. “Most of the people who have won were asking us for tickets. They were in the list of aspirants. We could only give tickets to 35 people. But some of the independent candidates are from within our fold itself,” he said. Malik said, “We will discuss the results — what has happened and why. But the next step will be determined by top leadership.”

Here are key takeaways

The elections were held after six years. A total of 202 candidates in the fray, of whom 147 were independent candidates, and 20 were fielded by INLD.

Although the tenure of the earlier councillors, elected by a voter turnout of 63.3 per cent in 2011, ended in June 2016, fresh elections had been delayed due to disputes over demarcation of wards. Voter turnout remained low, with only 55.92 per cent of voters showing up at polling booths across the city.

According to officials, Gurgaon has a total of 5,58,884 voters, of whom 2,92,938 are men and 2,65,946 are women. Only 3,12,550 of them exercised their franchise across the 35 wards.

To ensure peace across the 546 polling booths set up in the city, 3,600 police officers were deployed in Gurgaon all through Sunday. Of them, 1,982 maintained watch and patrolled areas outside the polling booths.

20 checkpoints were also set up to keep an eye on “antisocial elements”. Minor scuffles, however, did break out at some polling booths, although these were resolved after police personnel intervened. Three people were also arrested for attempting to vote using fake voter ID cards at a polling booth in DLF Phase 1.

The results were declared late Sunday evening.