Congress, BJP gear up as 5-year term of 7 municipal bodies in Haryana ends

The five‑year term of these bodies has already expired, as the last elections were held in December 2020. The next round of polls is expected to be announced soon.

The Rewari municipal council president’s post has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman, while Uklana’s has been earmarked for a general category woman. The posts of presidents in Sampla and Dharuhera remain unreserved.

Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said on Friday the party has appointed two in charges for each municipal bodies for the upcoming polls, including seven state ministers.

The Haryana Congress president, Rao Narender Singh, expressed hope that they would get a warm response from the people in the upcoming civic body polls.

In the December 2020 civic bodies polls, the BJP and its ally JJP contested together but faced mixed results. The Congress managed to win the Sonipat mayoral seat, while the BJP struggled in Panchkula.

The Haryana Jan Chetna Party (JCP), led by former Union Minister Venod Sharma, secured the Ambala mayoral post, marking the first time direct elections were held for mayors in these three cities.

The BJP won the Rewari civic body chief’s post, while an independent candidate backed by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda triumphed in Sampla. The JJP suffered setbacks, losing in Uklana and Dharuhera.

Ahead of the October 2024 Assembly polls, the political landscape shifted. Nikhil Madaan, the then Sonipat mayor and a Congress leader, joined the BJP and went on to win the Sonipat Assembly seat. In Ambala, Shakti Rani Sharma, who had been mayor as a Haryana Jan Chetna Party leader, also joined the BJP and won the Kalka Assembly seat. These developments helped the BJP secure a third-consecutive term in government.

In the municipal polls of March 2025, the BJP consolidated its dominance by winning nine of ten mayoral contests, with only Manesar going to an independent candidate. The party’s candidates won in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak, Panipat, Sonipat and Yamunanagar, defeating the Congress candidates. That round of elections included contests in seven municipal corporations — Gurgaon, Manesar, Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal and Yamunanagar — while bypolls were conducted for the mayoral posts in Ambala and Sonipat.