Independents Achieve Notable Victory in Manesar Civic Elections; BJP Secures Seven Seats

Gurugram, March 12 (NationPress) The results of the Manesar Municipal Corporation (MMC) have proven to be surprisingly disappointing for the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), as the party's mayoral candidate and 13 councillor candidates were unable to achieve electoral success.

The BJP managed to win seven seats but fell short of the majority required in the 20 wards of the MMC. This election marked the first Municipal Corporation election in the Manesar region following the establishment of the Manesar Corporation. The BJP's mayor candidate, Sunder Lal Yadav, who was confident about his win, faced defeat against an Independent candidate, Dr. Inderjeet Yadav, the spouse of Rakesh Yadav, whom the BJP labeled a gangster.

The newly elected mayor, Dr. Inderjeet Yadav, received 26,393 votes, while BJP's Sunder Lal Yadav garnered 24,100 votes, resulting in a defeat by a margin of 2,293 votes.

Congress's mayoral candidate Neeraj Yadav received 5,134 votes, and Independent candidate Vijay Singh secured 9,163 votes. Interestingly, the newly elected mayor had initially sought a ticket from the BJP, but the party opted for Sundarlal Yadav instead.

Despite the presence of senior party leaders, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Chief Minister and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and Cabinet Minister Rao Narbir Singh, who held significant campaign rallies in support of Yadav, the BJP candidate could not achieve victory.

The large gatherings led Sundarlal Yadav to believe in his impending win. Conversely, a critical factor in Dr. Inderjeet Yadav's success was her proactive approach; she engaged with the community directly and did not underestimate the election process. Additionally, both Yadav and her husband, Rakesh Hayatpur, identified themselves as supporters of Gurugram MP Rao Inderjeet Singh.

The association with Rao Inderjeet served as a protective factor, enabling her to win as an Independent, despite the BJP's attempts to undermine her husband. The BJP's oversight of Union Minister Rao Inderjeet Singh proved costly. Notably, Rao Inderjeet did not campaign in the Manesar area. However, a day prior to voting, a doctored video of him surfaced, allegedly endorsing the BJP candidate, which also drew criticism.

In the final campaign stretch, this fake video went viral but did not favor the BJP; instead, Dr. Inderjeet leveraged it to her advantage, contributing to her victory. Furthermore, the arrogance displayed by Cabinet Minister Rao Narbir Singh negatively impacted the party candidate, as he labeled Dr. Inderjeet's husband a gangster in Manesar and publicly reprimanded villagers in Daulatabad. The public’s reaction resulted in defeats for his supporters across various wards in Gurugram.

In Ward 6, Congress candidate Satpal triumphed over BJP's Ekta Tyagi by 1,200 votes, marking the only victory for Congress in this election.

In the Gurugram Municipal Elections, the BJP celebrated a hat trick of victories. BJP candidate Rajrani Malhotra emerged victorious with record votes, marking the party's third consecutive mayor since the formation of the Gurugram Municipal Corporation. Rajrani benefitted from two significant factors: her and her husband Tilakraj Malhotra's ties to the Sangh and the backing of Punjabi voters.

The leaderless Congress faced the repercussions of its unpreparedness. Congress mayor candidate Seema Pahuja was unable to counteract the anti-incumbency sentiment nor win over voters. Her husband, Pawan Pahuja, also lost his councillor election.

In the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) elections, the BJP claimed victory in 24 out of 36 wards, with 10 independent candidates also winning, while Congress and Jananayak Janta Party (JJP) each secured 1 seat.