THE Shiromani Akali Dal retained ward no. 10 in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation when its candidate Hardeep Singh defeated his Congress rival Bhupinder Singh Badheri in the by-election on Tuesday. The seat had fallen vacant when Akali councillor Malkiat Singh died in October last year. Hardeep Singh is his younger brother. Hardeep defeated the Congress candidate by a whopping 4,950 votes. He polled 7,664 votes while Bhupinder got 2,714. As many as 177 voters used NOTA (none of the above) option, showing dissatisfaction with both candidates. [related-post] The polling in the by-election held on Sunday witnessed a low turnout of 43.67 per cent. Hardeep took a lead in 21 of the 22 polling stations. He got an overwhelming response in his village, Buterla, where he polled 1,527 votes against 138 to Bhupinder. In Attawa, he polled 950 votes against 211 to his rival. In Bhupinder’s stronghold Badheri village, he managed to get 897 votes, only five less than Bhupinder’s 902 votes. In Sector 41 and 42 too, Hardeep emerged victorious by big margins. After the result was announced, Hardeep took out a victory procession with his supporters and senior leaders of BJP as well as SAD in the ward and thanked the people for their support. He also visited several religious places. Listing out his priorities, he said that he would ensure early completion of the community centre in his ward, which had been under construction for one year. “In my ward, parks are not developed. Roads in Sectors 41 and 42 need carpeting. The residents also want a sampark centre in the area. All these would be looked into,” he said. With Hardeep’s win, the SAD tally in the MC house of 36 has increased to two, and that of the SAD-BJP combine to 16. SAD local president Jagjit Singh Kang said that such a huge victory margin was not expected. People showed their respect for Malkiat by voting for his brother. BJP local president Sanjay Tandon said that the victory became possible due to the hard work of both BJP and SAD members. Congress local president Pardeep Chhabra said that the “sympathy factor’’ led to Hardeep’s massive victory. “But this will not stop the Congress from serving the people of the area. Our mayor will ensure that all the ongoing and upcoming projects in the area are taken up on priority,” said Chhabra.
