Haryana: Setback for BJP in Zila Parishad Elections, Much to Rejoice for AAP and INLD
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: NDTV
Everything looks promising and shiny for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana after it won the bypoll for the Adampur assembly seat.
However, the results of the recently-held zila parishad polls declared on Sunday did not bring similar good news as the party managed to win only 22/115 it contested on party symbols. The three-phase elections to 411 zila parishad wards were held in the state's 22 districts.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of Om Prakash Chautala seems to have benefitted the most from BJP's misery; at the same time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also managed to make some inroads into the state.
The worst outcome for BJP happened in Panchkula, where the party lost all 10 seats it contested on party symbol; Ambala also did not fare much better as BJP only won two seats. In both Sirsa and Ambala, the newcomer AAP fared better than BJP. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won two seats in Ambala, and independents secured eight.
In ward-4 of Ambala zila parishad, an independent candidate, Rajesh Devi, defeated Suman Saini, the wife of Kurukshetra BJP MP Nayab Singh Saini.
The narrative from BJP leaders on the results is that many party-backed independent candidates, around 151, won their respective elections.
However, based on party-symbol results, only AAP and INLD seem to have reasons to celebrate. The former claimed 15 zila parishad wards across Haryana, whereas INLD became the single largest party in the Sirsa district, winning 10/24 zila parishad seats. AAP is now the second largest party in Sirsa, with six zila parishad seats. At the same time, no BJP candidate could win in their respective wards.
In one of the interesting zila parishad battles, Om Prakash Chautala's grandson Karan Chautala defeated Rajkumar Nain, a candidate backed by Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala.
In some districts, independent candidates fared better than established parties. For instance, 13 out of 17 seats of Kurukshetra zila parishad were won by independents.
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Congress did not contest these elections on party symbols. However, JJP state president Nishan Singh's son and JJP minister Anoop Dhanak's aunt lost their respective elections in their native villages.
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