Haryana panchayat elections: BJP clinches 22, AAP bags 15 seats
What's the story
The results of the Haryana Panchayat elections were announced on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 22 seats but failed to open its account in Sirsa and Panchkula. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 15 seats while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won 14. The notification listing all the elected candidates will be issued in the Haryana government's gazette before Wednesday.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Haryana has a total of 22 Zila Parishads (ZP) or district councils consisting of 411 members. The members who have won in the polls will now elect the ZP chiefs for each district. The close contest between the AAP and the BJP sets the stage for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections to be held on Friday this week.
Information
Many independent candidates win
The BJP contested 102 seats in seven districts, while the AAP fought on 100 seats and the INLD on 72 seats. The BJP won in Ambala, Gurugram, and Yamunanagar, but lost 10 seats in Panchkula. The AAP won in Ambala, Jind, Sirsa, and Yamunanagar. The Congress didn't contest the election on its party symbol. Many independent candidates also won.
Details
Regional party leaders emerge as winners
INLD leader and Ellenabad MLA Abhay Chautala's son Karan Chautala won from Ward number 6 in Sirsa by more than 600 votes. Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader and Shahbad MLA Ramkaran Kala's son Kanwarpal won from Ward number 1 of Shahbad. Meanwhile, BJP's Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini's wife Suman lost to an independent candidate in Ward number 4 of Ambala.
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All district, block-level members elected
A total of 3,072 candidates contested the 411 seats of the ZP. Apart from this, 2,964 members of the panchayat samiti or block-level committees for all 143 tehsils were also elected for which as many as 11,888 candidates contested.