Haryana BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar is overwhelmed with the party’s performance in the recent civic body elections, for which a count was held on Wednesday. Dhankar told Sukhbir about the team’s performance and the message of the MC election results.
How do you see the performance of BJP-JJP in MC elections?
Of the 46 municipalities that went to the polls on June 19, BJP candidates have won the mayoral elections in 22 cities and our ally the JJP has won three municipalities. In addition to the 22 BJP-winning municipalities, party-backed candidates also won in Bhuna, Meham and Safidon municipalities. In one place (Vivani) our rebels have won.
Bhupinder Hooda said the BJP got 26.3% of the vote, while the independents got 52.2%. Your acceptance?
Of the 46 municipalities, the BJP contested the party symbol for 34 municipal chiefs and party-backed candidates contested in four municipalities. The remaining eight municipalities were left to our ally JJP. In 36 municipalities, the main candidates of our municipality got 48% of the total votes.
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How do you see the return of BJP in Sonipat and Jhajjar?
Despite all the challenges like movement or Corona epidemic in the past, BJP has expanded its base in Mewat, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Jind, Kaithal and Dadri municipalities. Those who considered themselves the ‘contractors’ of the area have lost their influence. The reason is simple, we were working on expanding our cadre while our opponents were busy pulling each other. Congress ships are sinking all over the country, including Haryana.
How do you see the defeat of BJP in three municipalities in the home district of the Chief Minister?
We have won in Jharunda municipality. The two municipalities that we have lost fall in the Nilokheri assembly constituency which is currently represented by an independent MLA Dharam Pal Gander, who is supporting the BJP-JJP government in Haryana. There may be a lack of coordination between local MLAs and local BJP leaders there. There was an apparent lack of coordination even in Asandha municipality. The results would have been more encouraging if natural preference had been given precedence everywhere in ticket allocation.
What is the message of Haryana civic body election?
The message is clear that the people like the BJP’s triple engine government because they understand that if the central, state and local governments work in coordination, development will accelerate. After the Narendra Modi government, now the focus is on human development. Earlier, there were few cities under discussion in terms of development like Chandigarh or Bangalore. But now the focus is on turning every city and town into a developed and smart locality. And budget is being arranged for this.
