The ruling BJP-JJP combine in Haryana won only one of three mayoral seats for which elections were held on Sunday in the cities of Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat. While the BJP won Panchkula, the Congress and the Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP) bagged mayoral posts in Sonipat and Ambala, respectively.It was for the first time that direct elections were held for mayoral posts in the three cities.  BJP had swept mayors’ polls in five Haryana cities two years ago.

In 2018, the party had won mayoral polls in Hisar, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak and Yamunanagar.

For the post of mayor in Ambala, HJCP’s Shakti Rani Sharma, wife of former Union minister Venod Sharma, emerged as a surprise winner, defeating Vandana Sharma of the BJP by a margin of 8,084 votes. The Congress candidate ended up at the fourth spot, officials said.Kulbushan Goyal of the BJP will be Panchkula’s new mayor. He defeated Congress’ Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia by 2,057 votes. Congress won the Sonipat mayoral polls. The party’s Nikhil Madaan defeated BJP’s Lalit Batra by 13,818 votes. In the Ambala MC polls, the BJP won eight of the 20 seats, HJCP 7, Congress 3 and Haryana Democratic Front 2.  In Sonipat, the BJP won 10 wards and the Congress 9. On one seat, an Independent emerged victorious.  In Panchkula, the BJP and the Congress won nine and seven seats, respectively. The JJP won two.

The post of the Rewari municipal council chairperson was bagged by BJP’s Poonam Yadav, who defeated Independent candidate Upma Yadav by 2,087 votes. The Congress slipped to the third spot here.