CHANDIGARH: A year after the NDA comprising the BJP and the Jannayak Janata Party came into power in Haryana, it suffered a setback in the civic body elections, as it lost mayoral/presidential positions in five of the seven municipal bodies that went to polls, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.
Coming as it did in the backdrop of the month-long agitation by farmers, analysts sought to read in the outcome the disquiet of the tillers, who constitute a large chunk of the voters. While Nikhil Madaan of the Congress wrested the Sonipat municipal corporation mayor post, Shakti Rani Sharma of the Haryana Jan Chetna Party is the new mayor of Ambala municipal corporation.
Sharma is wife of former union minister Vinod Sharma. Independents did remarkably well, wresting presidentships of Uklana, Dharuhera, and Sampla municipal committees. The BJP, however, managed to win the Panchkula mayoral poll and the Rewari Municipal Council’s presidentship.