Decoding the Haryana Municipal elections

The state of Haryana is amidst its Municipal elections. The political parties as participants are having a hard time with BJP being the conquistador. However, Congress chose to be on the other side of the fence, while withdrawing itself from fighting the elections. AAP showcased being the obedient candidate to manage the vacant opposition representation.

The core of Municipal elections

On 19 June, Haryana Municipal elections were conducted for 18 municipal councils and 28 municipalities for the post of President and Councillor. Further, the results for Haryana Municipal Corporation Election Results, 2022 were announced on 22 June.

During the poll results, BJP was found to grab a clear edge by marking a victory in 22 civic bodies. While its ally, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), won three seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to win just one seat in the elections. To put it simply, the BJP-JJP alliance, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and AAP fought the polls while various Congress members participated as independent candidates.

Around 70 percent of electors gave their votes among which the highest polling percentage was 84.6 in the Bawal municipal committee in Rewari. While Bhiwani and Jhajjar municipal councils recorded slightly lower percentages at 63.6 and 61.60 respectively.

However, Haryana has registered a 10 percent drop from last year’s voter turnout amidst the ongoing protests against the Agnipath scheme. These protests might be a probable reason behind the low turnout this time.

With Congress withdrawing its candidature from the polls, the municipal elections were left out with no opposition fighting against it. In contrast, the AAP debuted in Haryana as it is trying to expand its roots beyond the boundaries of Delhi and Punjab.

How were the Haryana elections for BJP, AAP and Congress?

Haryana is a state which is filled with the rural population depending upon the farming activity for their survival. Any laws or regulations for farmers will directly form a sense of reaction towards the implemented policy. The farmers’ bill, which was introduced last year created a rift in the state of Haryana, where numerous citizen came to the streets in order to demonstrate their uneasiness with the law.

The farmer’s bill fabricated a difficult time for the BJP making it lose its already created reputed image. With several people residing in small towns dependent on the rural economy, it was evident that disagreement of the farmer’s agitation towards the then newly launched bill will shake the BJP’s Haryana politics. Earlier, during the farm laws, the BJP had already lost both by-polls of Baroda which was originally won by Congress, and Ellenabad which was won by INLD.

On the other hand, the AAP had successfully opened its account in Haryana. Though, it was not on the expected lines that the party thought, especially after the massive victory in the neighbouring state of Punjab.

The Congress party had earlier decided to not contest the municipal elections of Haryana on the Party symbol. The party had initially announced this after a meeting in Chandigarh. The meeting included Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Udai Bhan, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party affairs in charge Vivek Bansal, Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda. It was later announced by them that the party has never contested the municipal elections on the party symbol and will continue the tradition of not fighting.

The BJP’s win in the polls was quite clear. With the Congress backfooting from contesting the municipal polls further clearing the pathway for BJP to mark its victory. Congress can be seen driving in the doldrums in Haryana. The AAP has achieved a debut but still not on the expected lines as was estimated. Apart from all these, BJP stood first in achieving the maximum share of votes under its ambit. Thus, once again, Haryana is flagged with Saffron colour.