The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections, held on Sunday, saw independent candidates emerging victorious in 21 of the 35 wards, leaving the BJP — which fielded candidates in every ward and also runs the government in the state — with only 13 seats. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), meanwhile, secured just one seat.
The elections, being held after six years, involved a total of 202 candidates in the fray, of whom 147 were independent candidates, and 20 were fielded by INLD. Although the tenure of the earlier councillors, elected by a voter turnout of 63.3 per cent in 2011, ended in June 2016, fresh elections had been delayed due to disputes over demarcation of wards. Voter turnout remained low, with only 55.92 per cent of voters showing up at polling booths across the city.
According to officials, Gurgaon has a total of 5,58,884 voters, of whom 2,92,938 are men and 2,65,946 are women. Only 3,12,550 of them exercised their franchise across the 35 wards.
Among the many who chose to stay home were residents of gated condominiums in the city, with their reasons for the decision ranging from lack of relevance of the elections to a dearth of candidates who deserved their vote.“I am not dependent on the MCG for my day-to-day needs. These are provided by the private builder of my locality, so the MCG elections have little impact on my life,” said a resident of a private condominium in DLF5, where booths saw one of the lowest turnouts.
Even among those who went to vote, many admitted that they were disillusioned with politics and only went for the satisfaction of knowing they were “doing our bit”. “I voted not on the basis of a political party but on the basis of issues that concern our day-to-day life, like cleanliness and broken roads. Although I am disillusioned with politics, I went out and voted anyway because sitting at home is not the answer,” said Neeta Chohan Unny, a resident of Sector 46.
To ensure peace across the 546 polling booths set up in the city, 3,600 police officers were deployed in Gurgaon all through Sunday. Of them, 1,982 maintained watch and patrolled areas outside the polling booths. Twenty checkpoints were also set up to keep an eye on “antisocial elements”. Minor scuffles, however, did break out at some polling booths, although these were resolved after police personnel intervened. Three people were also arrested for attempting to vote using fake voter ID cards at a polling booth in DLF Phase 1.
The results, declared late Sunday evening, saw relatives of prominent figures in the city among those who lost their seats to their opponents. These included Pramod Mangla, son of Bhani Ram Mangla, chairman of Gau Seva Ayog, Haryana; and Himani Aggarwal, sister-in-law of Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal.
Speaking about the results, Raman Malik, spokesperson of BJP Haryana, claimed that most of the independents who attained victory had earlier approached the BJP for a ticket.
“Most of the people who have won were asking us for tickets. They were in the list of aspirants. We could only give tickets to 35 people. But some of the independent candidates are from within our fold itself,” he said.
On the future course of action, Malik added, “We will discuss the results — what has happened and why. But the next step will be determined by top leadership.”
