BJP-JJP wins 25 of 46 Haryana top civic body posts

The BJP's 'triple engine sarkar' slogan seemed to have worked to a great extent in the Haryana municipal polls, as the saffron party and ally JJP won 25 of the 46 president or chairperson posts of municipal committees and councils on Wednesday.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in its maiden attempt in the municipal polls, won the president's post in Ismailabad municipal committee in Kurukshetra district. The post of Dabwali civic body chief went to the Indian National Lok Dal. The remaining 19 posts of president/chairperson went to independents who were either consensus candidates or supported by the Congress.
Elections to 28 municipal committees and 18 councils were held on Sunday. When it comes to the party-wise breakdown of members who have been elected to the civic bodies, 815 are independents, 60 to the BJP, five to AAP, six to INLD, and one to BSP.
The results have come as a setback for AAP, which had been claiming to have emerged as an alternative in the state. In most places, AAP and INLD candidates could not reach the top three positions.
Though Congress did not contest on the party symbol, its leaders had been supporting independent candidates aligned to the party. According to information, Congress-supported candidates lost in 11 constituencies where the party has MLAs.
The elections have also come as a setback for JJP, whose candidates failed to make it to top posts of civic bodies in Uchana, Narwana, Barwala and Tohana. All four constituencies are represented by JJP MLAs, with deputy CM Dushyant Chautala representing Uchana.
The JJP mustered a victory at Cheeka municipal committee, where Rekha Rani, daughter-in-law of JJP MLA Ishwar Singh, won. The other civic bodies where JJP won the chief's post include Sohna municipal council and Shahabad municipal committee.
Though the Congress had announced not to participate in the elections, its MLAs had been asked to take the call for their areas. Due to groupism, Congress leaders who contested as independent candidates failed to save their deposit.
Despite having announced that it won't contest on party symbol, Congress leaders Deepender Hooda, Geeta Bhukkal and Jagbir Malik made efforts to support their favorites. But no one could make it in Mehem, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar and Gohana civic bodies. Mehem was won by BJP-supported candidate, while BJP-JJP candidates won the remaining three.
Independent candidate Praveen Alawadi defeated BJP's Meenu in Hansi municipal council. In Barwala municipal committee, independent candidate Ramesh Batterywala defeated JJP's Ramkesh Bansal by 2,223 votes.
For Fatehabad municipal council chairman's post, BJP's Rajendra Singh Khichi defeated independent candidate Advocate Virendra by 1,059 votes. In Tohana municipal council, independent candidate Naresh Kumar defeated Ramesh Chandra of JJP by 4,240 votes for the chairman's post. Independent candidate Preeti Khanna won the Ratia municipal committee president's post by 7,349 votes. Here, BJP candidate Anju Bala secured the third position.
In Bhuna municipal committee, independent candidate Arpana won. INLD's Tekchand Chhabra won the post of chairman of Mandi Dabwali municipal council. BJP's Ashish Sharma was elected president of municipal council of Pehowa. In Shahabad, JJP candidate Gulshan Kumar became the president of municipal council.
Shalini Sharma of BJP was elected president of Sadhaura municipal council in Yamunanagar district. Independent candidate Rinki Walia, whose husband is associated with the Congress party, was elected president of the municipal council (MC) of Naraingarh in Ambala district. Rinki defeated BJP's Pritpal Kaur Makkar by 1,061 votes. Rinki's husband, Amit Walia, has earlier served as president of Naraingarh MC from 2013 to 2015.