In Haryana Local Polls, Independents Hurt BJP, Surprise Wins For AAP

The results of Haryana Panchayat polls were declared on Sunday with the candidates of the BJP, AAP and INLD registering victory on several seats of zila parishads in the state. The notification of the names of all the elected candidates will be duly issued in the Haryana state government gazette before November 30, a senior poll official said.

The ruling BJP won 22 out of 102 seats of zila parishad it contested in seven districts including Ambala, Yamunanagar and Gurugram, according to a party leader.

However, the party received a jolt in Panchkula where it lost 10 seats of zila parishads.

The Aam Aadmi party managed to make its presence felt in the panchayat polls as it claimed victory over 15 seats of zila parishads in districts including Sirsa, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Jind. The AAP had contested around 100 seats of zila parishads.

The Indian National Lok Dal, which contested 72 seats of zila parishads, registered victory over 14 seats in the polls.

The Congress did not contest the panchayat polls on its party symbol.

The political parties also claimed that the candidates who were backed by them also won from several seats of zila parishads.

Many Independent candidates registered victories in the zila parishad polls, dealing a blow to political parties.

Indian National Lok Dal (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.

Speaking to reporters after the poll result, Karan Chautala thanked voters for his victory in the poll.

JJP MLA from Shahbad Ramkaran Kala's son Kanwarpal won from ward number 1 of Shahbad zila parishad.

Among prominent losers was Kurukshetra BJP MP Nayab Singh Saini's wife who was defeated by an Independent from ward number 4 of Ambala zila parishad.

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.

The counting of votes for panchayat samiti and zila parishad polls began at 8 am amid tight security arrangements at the counting centres. However, the dashboard of the state election commission, showing the poll results, developed a technical snag in the afternoon.

After the poll result, Haryana BJP chief O P Dhankar said BJP candidates and party-backed nominees were elected at most places for zila parishads and panchayat samitis.

He also congratulated the winners in the polls.

AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated his party candidates for their victories in zila parishad polls. In a tweet, Kejriwal asked them to work for people with full dedication.

AAP MP and party's Haryana incharge Sushil Gupta said that the AAP won 15 seats of zila parishads.

With the poll result, it has become clear that the coming time in the state belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party, he claimed.

Meanwhile, Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh said out of 3,081 members of 143 panchayat samitis in the state, 117 had been already unanimously elected.

For the remaining posts of 2,964 members, 11,888 candidates had contested the election.

He said elections were held for 411 members of 22 zila parishads and as many as 3,072 candidates contested for these posts.

Singh said the counting of votes for the election of 411 members of zila parishads and the remaining 2,964 members of panchayat samitis in 143 blocks for all 22 districts was completed peacefully.

He said the notification of the names of all the elected candidates will be duly issued in the Haryana state government gazette before November 30.

In the first phase, the polling for zila parishads and panchayat samities were held on October 30 in nine districts Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar while polling for panches and sarpanches were held on November 2.

In the second phase, voting for the election of panchayat samitis members and zila parishads were held on November 9 in Ambala, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonipat, while the poll for panches and sarpanches in Gram Panchayats of these districts was held on November 12.

In the third and final phase, voting for panchayat samitis and zila parishads in the remaining districts was held on November 22 and the election of panches and sarpanches in these districts were held on November 25.

The results of elections for panches and sarpanches were declared immediately after the polling in each phase.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)