BJP sweeps Haryana civic polls, tightens grip on Ambala, Sonipat, Panchkula

The BJP on Wednesday swept the municipal corporation polls, registering emphatic wins in Ambala and Sonipat, and gaining an unassailable lead in Panchkula.

The BJP also swept other civic body polls and clinched the president's post in the municipal committee of Sampla, a stronghold of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Notably, the Congress had not fielded its candidate in Sampla for the civic polls.

Meanwhile, celebrations broke out in the BJP camp, with party workers and leaders distributing sweets.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini hailed the BJP's stupendous show in the civic polls, which came close on the heels of the party's big wins in West Bengal and Assam.

He said people have once again put their stamp of approval and reposed their trust in the policies and programmes of the Narendra Modi-led government.

Saini hit out at the Congress, saying people have once again rejected them.

"Congress always takes support of lies, people have understood this," he said, adding the grand old party's "real face has been unmasked".

On the BJP's win in the Hooda bastion, Sampla, Saini said, "People don't trust Hooda anymore. He speaks lies."

"Our government is working with honesty and transparency, fulfilling the promises made to people," the CM said.

As per official trends, for the Ambala mayor post, BJP's Akshita Saini defeated her Congress rival, Kulwinder Kaur, by a margin of 21,358 votes. Sonia Rani, an Independent, ended up in third place.

In Panchkula, BJP's Shyamlal Bansal gained an unassailable lead over Congress's Sudha Bhardwaj for the mayor's post, while AAP's Rajesh Kumar was in third spot.

For the mayor's post in Sonipat, BJP's Rajiv Jain trounced his Congress rival, Kamal Dewan, by 23,247 votes. Anand Kumar of the INLD trailed in third spot.

At present, the sitting mayors in three municipal corporations of Panchkula, Ambala and Sonipat are from the BJP.

In the Sampla municipal committee, BJP's Praveen defeated Independent candidate Ankit by 687 votes.

In Dharuhera, BJP's Satyanarayan, alias Ajay Jangra, won against Babu Lal, an Independent candidate, by 6,236 votes, while Congress ended up in third place.

However, in Uklana, BJP candidate Nikita Goyal lost to Independent candidate Rima Soni by 2,806 votes.

In the Rewari municipal council, Vinita Pippal of the BJP defeated Congress's Neharika by 21,445 votes.

In the Ambala municipal council, the BJP won 16 wards, three went to Congress, while an Independent won in one ward.

In the Sonipat municipal council, the BJP secured 17 wards while Congress registered wins in five wards. In a few municipal wards, Congress candidates were even behind the Independents.

The counting in the Panchkula municipal council was in progress, where the BJP has so far won 10 wards.