BJP sweeps Haryana civic polls, Cong, Hooda suffers badly

In Haryana, the BJP's mayoral candidates registered emphatic victories in nine municipal corporations on Wednesday. An independent candidate - Dr Inderjit Yadav, a rebel BJP leader - won the tenth, Manesar. The BJP's mayoral candidates have won Ambala, Gurugram, Sonipat, Rohtak, Karnal, Faridabad, Panipat, Hisar and Yamunanagar.Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Saini said the "triple-engine" government would work for the overall upliftment of the people and fulfil all its promises. "The results clearly show the faith the people of Haryana have shown in the BJP. The people have voted because of the developmental work of the government. The Congress has stopped taking the democratic process lightly and that's why people have shown them the door," he said.

The Congress slumped to a second successive election defeat in Haryana after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won polls for nine of 10 mayoral positions, including in Gurugram and Rohtak, the stronghold of Bhupinder Hooda, one of the opposition party's senior-most state leaders. Congress, contesting the state civic polls on its own symbol for the first time, failed to open its account. The biggest embarrassment for the Congress came in Rohtak, the stronghold of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Rohtak was clinched by Ram Avtar of the BJP against the Congress's Surajmal Kiloi. In the 2024 Assembly polls, the Congress maintained its grip over Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, with the party clinching seven out of eight seats.
Voting in Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal, and Yamunanagar, as well as Gurugram and Manesar - was on March 2. By-polls for the mayoral posts in the Ambala and Sonipat corporations were held on the same day. Panipat voted on March 9. Simultaneously, voting 21 municipal committees were also held. Overall voter turnout was seen as disappointing - it was only 41 per cent, a record low according to some reports, compared to 68 per cent for the Assembly election.