The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday won all five seats in the Haryana municipal elections, including Hisar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak and Yamunanagar. The elections were held on Sunday and the counting of votes for elections to the five municipal corporations and two municipal committees started on Wednesday morning.
BJP candidate Avneet defeated Congress-supported Independent Anshu Pahwa by a margin of close to 75,000 votes, according to the State Election Commission. The party’s Gautam Sardana won Hisar, Renu Bala won Karnal, Man Mohan won from Rohtak, and Madan Singh from Yamunanagar.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who had campaigned extensively for the party’s candidates, thanked the citizens who ensured a BJP victory. He said the win in mayoral elections is a win of the government’s policies and the party’s hard work and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.
Elections were also held for the two municipal committees of Jakhal Mandi in Fatehabad and Punri in Kaithal, results for which are yet to be declared.
State Election Commissioner Dalip Singh said that polling on Sunday was peaceful and there were no reports of Electronic Voting Machines malfunctioning anywhere, The Indian Express reported. “A 100% EVMs remained functional during the voting for the civic body polls,” he said, adding that a voter turnout of 69% was recorded.
The Haryana Election Commission had the “none-of-the-above” as a “fictional candidate”, making it compulsory for winning candidates to bag more votes than the option, PTI reported. The “none of the above option” secured 7,500 votes across the five cities.
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