ROHTAK, 14 February 2025— Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli on Friday announced the party’s candidates for mayoral elections in nine municipal corporations set for March.
Voting will take place on March 2 in Gurugram, Manesar, Faridabad, Karnal, Rohtak, Hisar, Ambala, and Yamunanagar, while Panipat will vote on March 9. The results for all will be declared on March 12.
The BJP has fielded six women candidates, including outgoing Karnal mayor Renu Bala Gupta, a close aide of Union Power Minister and former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Other women candidates include Usha Priyadarshi, state BJP women’s wing president (Gurugram); Parveen Joshi, Haryana Child Rights Commission chairperson (Faridabad); Komal Saini (Panipat); Suman Bahmani, a former district education officer who took voluntary retirement last year (Yamunanagar); and Selja Sachdeva (Ambala).
Rajiv Jain, former media adviser to Khattar, will contest from Sonepat. Jain was reportedly upset after his wife, former minister Kavita Jain, was denied an assembly ticket last year. The party had instead backed Congress-rebel and then-Sonepat mayor Nikhil Madan. Caretaker Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had visited Jain’s residence last year, assuring the couple of a future role in the party.
In Rohtak, the BJP has nominated Ram Avtar Valmiki, vice-president of the party’s national Scheduled Caste morcha, for the mayoral seat, which is reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate. Valmiki had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly elections from Kalanaur (reserved).
Praveen Popli, BJP state vice-president for the NAMO app, has been fielded for Hisar’s mayoral post. The party has yet to name its candidate for Manesar.
By-elections will also be held for the mayoral posts in Ambala and Sonepat after Shakti Rani Sharma and Nikhil Madan won assembly seats from Kalka and Sonepat, respectively, in October.
The Haryana State Election Commission stated that municipal elections will cover 10 corporations, four of 22 municipal councils, and 21 municipal committees across the state.
