Revision as of 00:58, 29 September 2017

2017

Gurgaon: BJP largest party but short of majority

BJP fails to win majority in Gurgaon civic polls, September 25, 2017: The Times of India

Still Likely To Get Post Of Mayor

BJP suffered a setback in the Gurgaon civic polls despite being the only party to contest in all 35 wards, winning 14 and falling short of the halfway mark (18).Counting was on in two wards at the time of going to press.

The party must now bank on Independents, who won 20 wards, to cobble up numbers it needs to put its own candidate in the mayor's chair. Senior functionaries said it was confident of doing so and controlling the House. But in a state where it runs the government, and in an election where it was the only major politi cal force, the result is being seen as a setback. Congress did not contest -like the last MCG election in 2011, it backed some Independents. INLD put up candidates in 20 of the 35 wards, and backed Independents in other wards. It won just one seat. Among the BJP candi dates who lost were Hi mani Aggarwal, the sister-in-law of Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal, and Pramod Mangla, son of Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog chairman Bhani Ram Mangla. The party's ticket distribution strategy appeared to have hurt it badly . In as many as seven wards, candidates (or their relatives) who left the BJP camp because they were ignored, contested as Independents and won. In another ward, a close fight was going on till late in the night.

Rao Inderjit Singh, the BJP MP from Gurgaon and Union minister, said, “We will analyse the results that have come in. Right now, we accept the verdict of the people.“

Even though it went into the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) poll without any serious political rival challenging it, sources said there was unease in the BJP camp over distribution of tickets and the caste factor playing a role in deciding the outcome.Party insiders said the BJP camp requested chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar to hit the campaign trail himself, sensing it needed to field some big guns.

“ As the campaigning came to an end, the party realised it may not be able to win even a dozen seats and urged the CM to come and campaign,“ said a senior party functionary .“Among the high-profile seats was Ward 17 from which the probable mayor, Madhu Azad, was contesting. The other seat for which the CM campaigned was that of the son of Bhani Ram Mangla.“

The MCG held its first election in 2011, and that one too was dominated by Independents (25 of them won). BJP had won just four seats but a majority of Independents had switched support to BJP midterm, after Rao Inderjit Singh joined the party from Congress.

Captain Ajay Yadav, a minister in the former Congress regime, contested the verdict in two wards, alleging Independents backed by the party had been denied a win.

“Despite the fact that two Congress-backed candidates were winning, the administration declared the BJP candidate the winner in wards 4 and 6 after doing a recount. It is 11pm and I am still at the voting count and I will ensure that justice is done. I have spoken to the deputy commissioner of Gurgaon and have asked him to look into the matter,“ he said. Madhu Azad, the BJP can didate who won from Ward 7 and is believed to be frontrunner for the mayor's post (reserved for a woman this time), was already looking forward to her new assignment.

“I will take forward the projects like Swachh Bharat and Beti Bachao announced by Prime Minister Modi and CM Khattar to places where it is yet to reach,“ she said after she was declared victorious.

BJP MP brings 6 independents over

Joel Joseph, BJP gets majority in Gurgaon corp as MP brings over 6 Independents, September 28, 2017: The Times of India

 Inderjit Faults Party's Ticket Distribution

Rao Inderjit Singh, the Gurgaon MP and a minister of state in the Modi government, sent a strong message to the Manohar Lal Khattar government when he bro ught over six Independent councillors to the BJP fold, handing the party a majority in the Gurgaon corporation.Two of the six had been suspended by BJP for contesting against the party's wishes.

In Sunday's election, BJP was the only party that contested all 35 seats, but managed to win just 14, with Independents -some of them rebel BJP candidates -bagging 20 seats and INLD one.Khattar, who visited Gurga on on Tuesday , said BJP had done well.

But on Wednesday , Rao Inderjit did not mince words.“The ticket distribution should have been handled in a better way; more thought should have been applied. I was not part of the ticket distribution.The expectation was much higher,“ he told TOI.

With six Independents joining BJP, the party's strength is now 20, two more than the halfway mark. After the for mal joining at the party's Sector 10 office in the presence of Haryana BJP general secretary Sandeep Joshi, the six were taken to the Delhi BJP headquarters for a meeting with senior leaders.

“The Independents who joined today contacted me and expressed their keenness to join the party as they believe in its policy and its leaders,“ Rao Inderjit said. Some of them might have been suspended by the party but their faith in the party is in tact and that is why we decided to accede to their request,“ Rao Inderjit said.

The six who joined BJP are Dinesh Saini (ward 8), Naveen Dahiya (12), Rajni Sahni (17), Ashwani Sharma (19), Sunita Yadav (22), and Kuldeep Singh Bohra (31).

With Inderjit stealing a march in ensuring that the party gets a majority , there is speculation that his rival and party colleague Rao Narbir, who is a cabinet minister in the Khattar government and the MLA from Badshahpur, might also parade another set of Independents