Sign of worry for ruling BJP-JJP alliance as result of municipal bodies poll out

Chandigarh: There is a sign of worry for the ruling alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in Haryana, if Wednesday’s election result of 46 municipal bodies is any indication.

The alliance could seize the post of president in just 25 municipal bodies, with a winning strike rate of not more than 54%.

Of this, BJP won the president post in 22 municipal bodies while JJP  grabbed the top post in three municipal bodies.

Aam Aadmi Party, which for the first time tested the waters in Haryana municipal bodies, opened its account with one win, while Congress-backed candidates were the winner in most of the remaining 20 municipal bodies.

The exact number of Congress party winners is not immediately available since their candidates did not use its party symbol in this election whereas  BJP-JJP, INLD, and AAP candidates fought elections on their party symbol.

The downfall of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which once was a formidable political force in Haryana, continues as it just had one win in its kitty.

70% out of 10 Lakh voters exercised their rights during the June 20 polls in which there were direct elections to the post of president besides the election of ward-level councillors in all 46 municipal bodies.

Several BJP-JJP candidates had a thin margin

Of the total 46 municipal bodies, 28 were municipal committees and 18 were municipal councils.

The ruling alliance of BJP-JJP won the post of president in 14 out of 28 municipal committees and 11 out of 18 municipal councils.

But the winning margin in many of the municipal bodies was very thin.

For instance, BJP’s president candidates in Gharaunda, Pehowa, and Kundli municipal committees barely won the election with just 31, 55, and 77 votes.

In the other three municipal committees of Sadhaura, Nangal Chaudhary, and Cheeka, the winning margin of BJP candidates was mere 122, 134, and 202 votes.

Since most of the municipal committees fall in semi-urban towns, the outcome indicates the growing resentment on the ground against the ruling alliance in the state, which will complete two years in power later in October this year.

Even in big urban areas, the electoral performance of the alliance was not too exciting.

Of 18 municipal councils, the alliance could register a victory in 11 bodies as it lost the president post in major urban towns of Bhiwani, Hansi (Hisar), Dabwali (Sirsa), Hodel (Palwal), Narnaul (Mahendergarh), Narwana (Jind), and Tohana (Fatehabad).

What the result conveys for the ruling alliance

The political message is loud and clear as the results came out on Wednesday.

First, as far as the BJP is concerned, it is a personal humiliation for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. In his hometown Karnal, four municipal committees - Nissing, Gharaunda, Assandh, and Tarori - went for polls.

Of this, the party could seize the president post only in the Gharaunda municipal committee. It lost two others - Tarori and Assandh while it had no official candidate in Nissing.

But it is the JJP headed by the splinter Chautala clan, which appears more in trouble than the BJP.

Jind district is considered the hub of JJP, which claims to represent Jats of Haryana.

The party’s popular face and deputy chief minister in the alliance government Dushyant Chautala is also MLA from the Uchana Kalan constituency of Jind district.

However, the JJP candidate of Jind’s Narwana municipal council ended up on the fifth position with just 627 votes.

The party candidate even lost the president post of the Uchana municipal committee too by over 1400 votes.

JJP candidate also lost the post of president in Fatehabad Tohana municipal council.

AAP shows positive signs

It is worth noticing the performance of AAP as it seized the post of president in Ismailabad municipal committee in the Kurukshetra district.

Three of its presidential candidates in Pehowa, Gharaunda, and Kundli had a narrow defeat.

In Sohana (Gurugram) municipal council, its candidate for the president post got more than 10,000 votes and was runner-up behind the winning candidate, having a victory margin of not more than 2,000 votes.

AAP’s candidate for the post of president in Bhiwani municipal council too was runner up with over 21,000 votes.

Political analysts in the state feel that AAP’s performance in Haryana municipal bodies reflects that it has a future in Haryana, especially after a mammoth victory in neighbouring Punjab. It all depends upon how it strengthens its state unit in time to come since the next assembly election in Haryana is still far away (due in October 2024).

Some political analysts believe that if AAP manages to expand its footprint in Haryana, it is bad news, especially for BJP, given that Kejriwal's party is targeting the same non-jat vote, which is the predominant reason for BJP’s electoral victories in 2014 and 2019 assembly elections.

Congress’s performance not bad either

As per the performance of Congress, it has not been disappointing, unlike INLD.

Leave aside two or three BJP rebels, the party-backed candidates’ still wrested president post in at least 15 to 17 municipal bodies.

The party recently had a rejig in the state unit after a close aide of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda was made new Congress Haryana president.

The party recently faced humiliation when it lost the Rajya Sabha election to an independent backed by BJP-JJP.

A party leader told Newsdrum that the results convey that a lot still needs to be done on the ground to revive the party.

Meanwhile, ward-wise results are not out yet. A total of 888 wards went to the polls in all 46 municipal bodies.