Independent candidates dominate Gurugram civic body polls by winning 21 out of 35 seats

The city of Gurugram went to civic body polls on Sunday wherein independent candidates ruled the roost. Independent candidates won elections in 21 out of 35 wards. BJP, which is running the government in state, was able to win only 13 seats.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) came out victorious on just one seat. Also, 15 candidates who won elections were women.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections were held after six years. The elections involved a total of 202 candidates. There were 147 independent candidates in fray whereas 20 candidates were fielded by INLD.

Polling for the urban local body began at 7 am today and concluded at 5 pm. The counting of votes ended around 8 pm after which the results were declared.

Soon after the result was declared, Haryana PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh said that several independent candidates who have won would support the BJP.

The mayor would be from the BJP, he said.

State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, however, claimed that the results signified a rejection of both the BJP and the INLD.

“The result are a clear indication that if the Congress had contested on its symbol, the party would have won 25-30 seats and would have got the mayor’s post as well,” Tanwar claimed.

Of the independents who won, three were supported by the Congress while two were backed by the INLD.

Of the 15 women candidates who were elected, 10 were independents, while five were from the BJP. This is for the first time that so many women have emerged in Gurgaon civic body polls, officials said.

During the polling, there were reports of minor skirmishes, the police said adding that two persons were arrested on charges of attempting to vote on fake voter IDs.

Like the previous elections in 2011, polling in urban areas was less as compared to the rural parts.

The highest voter turnout was at the Kherki Daula senior secondary school where 681 out of 796 voters cast their votes.

There are a total 5,58,884 voters in Gurgaon out of which 2,76,420 cast their votes at 546 polling booths.

Among the victorious candidates were Mithlesh Barwal (Ind) from ward 1, Shakuntala Devi (BJP) from ward 2, Ravinder Yadav (BJP) from ward 3, Birendra (INLD) from ward 4, Dimple Yadav (BJP) from ward 5, Naresh Sherawat (Ind) from ward 6, Madhu Azad (BJP) from ward 7, Dinesh Saini (Ind) from ward 8, Pramila Kablan (Ind) from ward 9, Hemant Kumar Sain (Ind) from ward 28.

Among others, Sunita Yadav (Ind) won from ward 22, Seema Pahuja (Ind) from ward 15. while Naveen Dhaiya (Ind) won from ward 12.

With PTI inputs