The Indian Express              05.06.2013

Surprise: 3 former presidents of Panchkula Municipal Council lose

The results of Panchkula Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls on Tuesday threw up some big surprises with the loss of political heavyweights including three former presidents of Panchkula Municipal Council. Some lesser known candidates emerged victorious bucking the party expectations.

In the corporation elections, both Ravinder Rawal, former president of Panchkula Municipal Council, and his brother Naresh Rawal lost the elections. While Ravinder lost to the BJP's Sunil Talwar in ward no. 12, Naresh lost to Lily Bawa in ward no. 14. Both the brothers refused to speak to the media after the results were declared.

The Congress's Panchkula MLA D K Bansal said the party respected the voters' verdict. "The loss of two Rawal brothers is unexpected," he added.

However, winning candidates Sunil Talwar and Lily Bawa said that their victories were due to the confidence shown by the public in them. Led by his supporters in a victory procession out from the counting centre in Sector 14, Sunil flashed the victory sign as slogans in favour of the BJP rent the air. He said he won as Ravinder, who earlier represented some sectors in ward no. 12, had not done any work. "I am also thankful to former deputy chief minister Chander Mohan Sharma for the victory. The win became possible due to the combined efforts of BJP and HJC," he said.

Lily Bawa said that she won because of the developmental work that she had done in the ward. "I earlier represented some sectors in ward no. 14 and it is due to the work that I did in Sector 12 that people have reposed faith in me. I have no grouse against the voters of the areas who did not vote in my favour. All the people of my ward are my family members."

The INLD also suffered a major setback as its candidate and former president of Panchkula Municipal Council Seema Chaudhary lost the election to the Congress-supported Independent candidate, Saleem Mohammad, in ward no. 20. From ward no. 19, former president of Panchkula Municipal Council Tarun Bhandari lost the election. Although the Congress claimed victory in the ward, the loss of Tarun Bhandari was seen as another highlight of the results.

Also, the INLD's district president of minority cell, Panchkula, Gafur Mohammad lost the election to Congress- supported candidate Krishan Lamba in ward no 5. However, the INLD won in ward no. 8 electing former vice- president of Panchkula Municipal Council, Kuljit Kaur, to the corporation. Lamba said that people voted for him as he had done many developmental works and always remained connected with the voters. "I earlier remained a panch from Pinjore and was elected to Pinjore Municipal Council," he said.

Among the prominent members who won the elections was BJP candidate C B Goel from ward no. 9. He said that he had won for the third time. "It has been a hat-trick for me," he added.

The Hindu                05.06.2013

Independents steal the show in Haryana civic polls

Special Correspondent

Even as results for elections to seven newly created Municipal Corporations in Haryana were declared, there was a mad scramble among political parties to claim credit for bagging the most winners. Though the ruling Congress did not contest on its election symbol, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claimed that out of 103 independent elected candidates majority of them were from the Congress.

Congratulating the newly elected municipal councillors, Mr Hooda said that the victory of candidates connected with the Congress is an indication of the popularity of the party and a negation of the false propaganda by opposition parties that predicted a victory for themselves. He said that the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of Om Prakash Chautala could win only 16 seats while the BJP won 25.

Meanwhile Abhay Singh Chautala of the INLD said that the competition was only between his party and the BJP and that the Congress avoided contesting on its election symbol because it was sensing a defeat. He also said that in the ward of Rohtak town where the Chief Minister’s own house is situated the BJP councillor won. Citing this as an indication of the Chief Minister’s unpopularity in Rohtak, Mr Chautala said that the BJP candidate won despite the Chief Minister fielding his close confidante from the ward.

Elections were held for the newly created Municipal Corporations of Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak and Hisar for which polling was held on June 2. State Election Commissioner Dharam Vir, announcing the results said that polling was held for 144 wards in seven Municipal Corporations where 1,686 candidates were in fray. The poll percentage was 68.8 and in all 10,75,885 electorates had cast their votes in these elections.

He said that out of 144 wards, the independent candidates won in 103 . The candidates of the BJP won in 25 wards whereas those of the INLD won in 16 wards. He said that in Ambala, the BJP has won four and independent candidates have won 14 seats. Similarly, in Hisar, INLD has won four and independent candidates have won 16 seats. In Karnal, BJP has won three, INLD two and independent candidates have won 15 seats. In Panchkula, each of the INLD and BJP has won three seats and 14 seats have been bagged by independent candidates.

In Panipat, BJP won six, INLD two and 16 seats were won by the independents. In Rohtak, the BJP has won two, the INLD one and independent candidates have won 17 seats whereas in Yamunanagar the BJP has won seven, the INLD four and independent candidates bagged nine seats.