Gurugram: In a boost to the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government that just completed its first year in power, the ruling party has almost swept the municipal polls in Haryana, winning nine out of 10 municipal corporations, emerging victorious in most municipal councils and routing out Congress in the process.
The results of Haryana’s municipal elections were declared Wednesday. The BJP secured victory in nine out of 10 municipal corporations, while the Congress failed to win a single corporation.
In Manesar, independent candidate Inderjeet Yadav emerged victorious, defeating BJP candidate Sunder Lal.
Inderjeet Yadav campaigned as a close associate of Union Minister and Gurugram BJP MP Rao Inderjit Singh. On the other hand, Sunder Lal was perceived as the choice of Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Haryana Minister Rao Narbir Singh.
Voting was on 2 March in Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Gurugram, and Manesar. By-elections for the mayoral posts in Ambala and Sonipat and elections for 21 municipal councils were held on the same day. In Panipat, voting was on 9 March.
The ruling party emerged victorious in Ambala, Karnal, Faridabad, Gurugram, Rohtak, Hisar, Panipat, Yamunanagar, and Sonipat.
This time, the BJP wrested the mayoral seats in Sonipat and Ambala, previously with the Congress and Haryana Janchetna Party.
Of the 10, seven municipal corporations elected women as mayors. They include Raj Rani in Gurugram, Suman Bahmani in Yamunanagar, Komal Saini in Panipat, Parveen Joshi in Faridabad, Inderjeet Yadav in Manesar, Shailja Sachdeva in Ambala, and Renu Bala in Karnal.
Faridabad recorded the biggest victory in the municipal elections, while Manesar saw the narrowest defeat. In Faridabad, BJP’s Parveen Joshi won by 3,16,852 votes, defeating Congress candidate Lata Rani. In contrast, in Manesar, BJP’s Sunder Lal lost by just 2,293 votes.
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‘Triple-engine government’
The municipal elections held five months after the Haryana assembly elections reinforced the BJP’s “triple-engine government” narrative. With the BJP in power at the Centre, in the state, and now, in the city administrations, the party has firmly established its control over urban governance. Its lone setback notwithstanding, the BJP’s dominance in the municipal elections was nearly absolute.
The Congress faced a complete rout, failing to win a single seat in any of the ten municipal corporations. The party even lost the Sonipat mayoral post it previously held. In Rohtak—a stronghold of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda—the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat. Similarly, in Sirsa, where Congress MP Kumari Selja wields influence, the municipal council elected a BJP chairman.
Just five months ago, the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP despite being the favourite to form the government. With 39.94 percent votes, the BJP won 48 out of 90 seats and formed the government under Nayab Singh Saini, while Congress managed just 37 seats with 39.09 percent votes.
Hailing his party’s victory, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini attributed the win in the municipal elections to the hard work of the BJP’s dedicated workers and said that with the blessings of 2.8 crore family members in the state, Haryana brought in a triple-engine government.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the state assembly, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda downplayed the results and said that the BJP already had most of the municipal corporations.
“Neither I nor any other senior leader campaigned during the mayoral elections because I have always considered local bodies’ elections as the Bhai Chare Ka election (election of brotherhood). Even as CM, I never campaigned during municipal elections,” he said.
Jyoti Mishra, a research associate at the Lokniti-CSDS (Centre for Study on Developing Societies) in Delhi, said a few key factors led to the BJP’s impressive victory in the Haryana municipal elections.
“The party benefitted immensely from being in power in the state. With the BJP forming the government in Haryana just five months ago and continuing its rule at the Centre, it effectively used the ‘triple-engine’ governance slogan. Voters were convinced that Opposition-led city administrations might struggle to secure development funds and projects from the state and central governments,” said Mishra.
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BJP’s strong campaign
The BJP fielded all its senior leaders, including state party president Mohan Badoli and Chief Minister Nayab Saini, in the campaign. Ministers and MLAs actively participated in door-to-door canvassing, strengthening the party’s credibility among voters.
The presence of the top leadership reinforced the perception that the BJP was genuinely committed to urban development, said Jyoti Mishra. The ruling party, she added, adopted a highly organised and structured election management strategy. The party treated the municipal elections with the same seriousness as the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, implementing a five-tier booth-level management system.
On the contrary, Mishra said, the Congress suffered due to several strategic and organisational failures. “The party’s absence of a proper organisational structure proved a major setback. The Congress has lacked a functional state leadership framework for 11 years, making it difficult to mobilise ground-level workers. Despite issuing multiple organisational lists to appease leaders, the strategy failed to yield results,” she added.
Mishra pointed out that while senior BJP leaders left no stone unturned for the party’s victory, senior Congress leaders distanced themselves from election campaigning. Heavyweights, such as former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, his MP son Deepender Hooda, Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala, were noticeably absent from the campaign.
Mishra also pointed out the defections of several prominent faces in the Congress ahead of the election. They include former Hisar candidate Ramniwas Rada, who sought the mayoral ticket but was overlooked for another candidate. When the Congress leadership failed to pacify him, he joined the BJP. Similarly, former MLA Narender Sangwan and two-time Congress candidate Tarlochan Singh defected to the BJP without any intervention from the INC.
Prof Kushal Pal, principal at Government College, Ladwa, and professor of political science, said that the municipal elections in Haryana proved to be more of a walkover for the BJP.
“With its unexpected loss in the assembly polls in October last year, the Congress in Haryana was already a demoralised party. But with the defections of several senior leaders, including Tarlochan Singh, who contested the assembly polls against two CMs—Manohar Lal Khattar in 2019 and Nayab Singh Saini in 2024—the demoralisation was complete. The BJP’s latest victory in the Delhi assembly election tilted the balance towards the ruling party completely,” Pal said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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