Chandigarh: The BJP suffered a setback in the Haryana Zila Parishad polls winning only 22 of the 100 seats it contested, while the AAP was at the second spot by bagging 15 seats out of the over 100 it contested on the party symbol. The polls, the results of which were declared on Sunday, also saw the Indian National Lok Dal making some gains. The Congress and the BJP's ally Jannayak Janata Party did not contest the panchayat polls on party symbols.
According to political experts, the poll outcome has come as a wake-up call for the ruling BJP ahead of the 2024 state assembly polls. The party, however, claimed that more than 150 BJP-backed candidates also won in the elections in other districts of the state. The BJP's drubbing in the zila parishad polls came days after its victory in the Adampur bypoll in Hisar. BJP's Bhavya Bishnoi, the grandson of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, had won the bypoll by a margin of more than 15,000 votes early this month.
The zila parishad poll result came as a shocker for the BJP in Panchkula where it lost all 10 seats which it contested. The party also suffered a setback in Sirsa where it failed to win a single seat out of 10 it contested. The major embarrassment came for the party after BJP MP from Kurukshetra Nayab Singh Saini's wife Suman Saini was defeated from ward number 4 of Ambala zila parishad.
The ruling party also could not perform well in Ambala, which is the home district of Home Minister Anil Vij, where it could win only two seats out of total 15 zila parishad seats. In Gurugram, the BJP could win four out of 10 zila parishad seats. However, in Yamunanagar, Nuh and Kurukshetra, the ruling party won six, seven and three seats respectively.
Haryana BJP spokesperson Sanjay Sharma asserted that the party performed very well in the zila parishad polls. He claimed the BJP supported 151 candidates won in 15 districts. Apart from this, Sharma said the majority of 126 independents who won the polls are supporting the BJP. Therefore, out of total 411 members in 22 zila parishads, the BJP has the backing of around 300 winning candidates.
The Aam Aadmi Party sprang a surprise in the zila parishad polls by winning 15 seats out of more than 100 seats it contested on party symbol. It performed well in Sirsa by winning six seats, besides registering victory over three seats in Ambala and two in Jind. AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated his party candidates for their victories in zila parishad polls and asked them to work for people with full dedication.
The victory for the AAP on several seats in the zila parishad polls will come as a boost for the party, which is eyeing to perform well in the 2024 Haryana assembly polls, said political experts. AAP MP and party's Haryana in-charge Sushil Gupta said with the poll result, it has become clear that the coming time in the state belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party. The Indian National Lok Dal also managed to make some gains in the zila parishad polls as it won 10 seats in Sirsa.
INLD leader and Ellenabad legislator Abhay Chautala's son Karan Chautala won from the ward number 6 of zila parishad in Sirsa by more than 600 votes. An INLD leader said the party won a total 14 out of 72 seats it contested on the party symbol in the zila parishad polls. In the zila parishad polls, it was independent candidates who bagged a majority of seats in several districts including Jhajjar, Hisar, Rewari and Rohtak.
The elections to 143 panchayat samitis and 22 zila parishads were held in three phases. Haryana has 22 zila parishads comprising 411 members. The members will in turn elect the 22 zila parishad chiefs. The state has 143 panchayat samitis, comprising 3,081 members who will further elect their respective presidents. (PTI)
