Ruling alliance’s vote share dips 11 pc in Hoshiarpur

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, February 26

Managing a clear majority in the maiden Hoshiarpur Municipal Corporation elections, the SAD-BJP alliance has won 27 of the 50 wards.

While the BJP candidates have emerged victorious in 17 of the 33 seats the party had contested, the SAD has won 10 of the remaining 17.

The Congress too has equalled the BJP’s score of 17 while the remaining six seats have gone to the Independents. The elections were held for 49 seats as former BJP minister Tikshan Sud’s wife Rakesh Sud was declared winner unopposed from ward number 7. The BJP had faced the maximum dissidence, with 17 of its rebels contesting as Independents and causing considerable to the official candidates.

In ward number 36, BJP Mahila Mandal Morcha president Bindu Sud, who was contesting as an Independent, has lost to the Congress’s nominee. The BJP’s official candidate stood third, managing a meagre 170 votes. Former BJP councillor Balwinder Singh Bindi, who was in the fray as an Independent from ward number 14, defeated BJP candidate Ajit Singh by 392 votes. Another BJP rebel, Ramesh Kumar Meshi, won in ward number 3. The official nominee here was pushed to the fourth place.

Another former BJP councillor, Amarjit Raman, contested as an Independent from ward number 38. Though Raman lost, she took a large share of the party votes, pushing the BJP candidate to the third position. From ward number 31, Monika Katna, whose father-in-law Kharaiti Lal Katna is a former SAD councillor, won as an Independent.

In ward number 5, Youth Congress city president Vikram Mehta, who was in the fray as an Independent, defeated BJP candidate Sushma Setia, who is the wife of ex-personal secretary to former minister Tikshan Sud. The SAD-BJP combine may have won, but both the partners have lost their vote share when compared to the previous municipal council elections. The BJP had last time won 11 of the 20 seats it had contested. Its margin then was 55 per cent, which has come down to 51.5 per cent this time. The SAD had last time won nine of the 11 seats it had contested (82 per cent), but the party’s current score is 59 per cent.

The Congress has improved its vote percentage to 34 per cent from 22 per cent last time. The alliance has lost its vote share by 26 per cent while the Congress has gained by 11 per cent.