Haryana municipal election: 46% voter turnout recorded today, counting on March 12

Haryana municipal election: Forty-six per cent of the more than 51 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise for civic body polls in Haryana on March 2, Sunday. The counting of votes will be held on March 12.

Voting was held to elect mayors and ward members in seven municipal corporations, councils, and committees across the state. The officials said the polling was peaceful.

The election commission officials said the turnout in the civic polls was 46 percent, adding that the overall percentage may slightly increase once the entire data is collected. Among municipal corporations, voting was held to elect mayors and all ward members in seven corporations of Gurugram, Manesar, Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal, and Yamunanagar. The bypolls for the post of mayor in Ambala and Sonipat municipal corporations, were also held today.

The voting began at 8 am and continued till 6 pm, officials said.

Voting to elect presidents, ward members in civic bodies

Elections were also held  for the president and all ward members of four municipal councils of Ambala Sadar, Pataudi Jatoli Mandi, Thanesar, and Sirsa. Bypoll were held for the post of president in municipal council Sohna, in Gurugram district.

Voting also took place to elect presidents and all ward members in 21 municipal committees. Bypolls for the post of president in Assandh (Karnal district) and Ismailabad (Kurukshetra district) municipal committee were also held today.

Congress Vs BJP in Gurugram

The Congress contested municipal polls Haryana for the first time, while the BJP had deployed the top state leadership for the elections. Remember, the BJP defeated the Congress in Haryana assembly polls held late last year.

In Gururgam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress were up against each other with only two candidates in the fray for the coveted Mayoral post in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was among the early voters. Khattar, the former chief minister of Haryana, cast his vote at a polling booth in Karnal.

Khattar appealed to voters to come out and cast their vote. “Casting vote is our democratic right and it is also our duty to exercise our franchise,” he said.

Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh told news agency PTI that extensive arrangements, including those pertaining to security, have been made for the free, fair and transparent elections of the urban local bodies.

39 Mayoral aspirants

As many as 39 candidates contested for the posts of mayor in nine municipal corporations. Similarly, 27 candidates were in the fray for the posts of president in five municipal councils.

A total of 151 candidates contested for the posts of president in 23 municipal committees.

In some wards, only one candidate had filed a nomination, leading to their unopposed election. These wards included Ward 36 of municipal corporation, Faridabad, Ward 22 of municipal corporation, Gurugram, Ward 8 and 11 of municipal corporation, Karnal and Ward 9 of municipal corporation, Yamunanagar.

The polls were held using EVMs.

40 per cent turnout in Gurugram

Gurugram recorded a turnout of more than 40 per cent, with Farukh Nagar in the district registering a healthy poll percentage of nearly 77. Manesar recorded a 65-per cent voter turnout and Sohna 35.3 per cent, news agency PTI reported.

Sonipat recorded a poor turnout of about 29 per cent, though Kharkhoda in the district registered more than 62 per cent polling. Rohtak recorded a poll percentage of more than 53.

In Ambala district, the turnout was nearly 32 per cent in Ambala, 52.3 per cent in Ambala Sadar and 67.3 per cent in Barara.

In Faridabad, the turnout was around 40 per cent.

Results on March 12

Polling for the Panipat municipal corporation will take place on March 9.

The votes will be counted on March 12. Earlier, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini exuded confidence that the BJP will win the civic polls and said that after the formation of the "triple-engine" government, work will be done three times faster".

The Congress had appealed to the electorate for a full majority for the party.

(With PTI inputs)