Panchkula (Haryana): In a major embarrassment for the BJP, it lost all the 10 seats in Panchkula in the Zila Parishad polls, results of which were declared last week. Neither Congress nor any other party contested the polls on the party symbol except for BJP which contested on party symbol on these 10 seats. Most of the candidates blamed farmers’ agitation for the BJP’s loss in the rural belt of Panchkula district.
Ward 1 to 3 fall in the Pinjore belt while Ward 4 and 5 fall in the Morni, ward 6 and 7 fall in Barwala and ward 8,9 and 10 fall in the Raipurrani belt. Among the winning candidates, five are women and five are male candidates.
BJP leader and Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said , “Yes, though it was totally an election of villages, several combinations have played a role. In few areas, farmer agitation was the reason and in some it was entirely caste-based.”
Significantly, in Panchkula, local MLA Gian Chand Gupta and Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal are from the BJP. Sudarshan Renu, 41, who won by a margin of 145 votes from ward 10 defeating BJP candidate in the Raipurrani block, said, “In fact, BJP’s policies have led to their defeat. Despite bringing in various Cabinet ministers for campaigning, they couldn’t win because people at the ground level are really upset with their anti-people policies.”
She added, “Post-Covid, there was no help at all from the government to people here. There has been absolutely no development at all that has taken place here in the villages. No roads, no basic amenities, people were just befooled all these years. The party will face defeat in all the forthcoming polls.”
