Panchkula: Voters ousted both the sitting MLAs from power
Chandigarh: The anti-incumbency wave was clearly visible in the results of the assembly elections in the district, in which both the sitting MLAs of Kalka and Panchkula faced defeat. Congress leader and former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan made a comeback after 16 years by defeating Gyan Chand Gupta in Panchkula, while BJP’s Shakti Rani Sharma easily defeated two-time MLA Pradeep Chaudhary in Kalka. The contest between Chander Mohan and Gupta kept their supporters excited till the counting was completed. Counting of votes began at 8 am at the Government College in Sector 1. In the first round, Chander Mohan was leading by 764 votes. In the fourth round, two-time MLA Gupta took the lead. Chander Mohan and Gupta were watching the counting sitting at the same place. In the fifth round, the difference increased to 1,115 votes and in the 10th round, the difference increased to 4,621 in favor of Gupta. By the 14th round, his lead came down to 92 votes and the picture changed in the next round. At the end of the 15th round, Chandra Mohan was ahead of Gupta by 1,232 votes.
Both remained seated on their seats while Congress workers came out of the counting centre and gathered on the road. They started dancing to Haryanvi songs as Chandra Mohan won by a margin of 1,976 votes. He got 67,253 votes. In Kalka, Independent Gopal Sukhomajri was ahead in the initial rounds but eventually Shakti Rani Sharma won easily. Shakti Rani took the lead in the fourth round. Pradeep Chaudhary also went ahead of Sukhomajri but Shakti’s lead kept increasing in successive rounds. By the end of the sixth round, the difference between the two was 5,097 votes and by the end of the 10th round, the difference reached 10,953 votes. Shakti was accompanied by her husband Vinod Sharma and son Kartikeya. She won easily by a margin of 10,833 votes against Pradeep Chaudhary. The incumbent Ambala mayor took her victory certificate from the counting centre and began a roadshow towards Kalka and Pinjore. Her convoy was surrounded by a large number of supporters. On reaching Kalka, she offered prayers at the Kali Mata temple.
Return of Chander Mohan
Chander Mohan, a former deputy chief minister and son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, was elected to the state assembly four times – in the 1993 by-election, in 1996, 2000 and 2005. He changed his name to Chand Mohammad in 2008. His political career was cut short once due to controversies related to the death of his former wife. He tried to make a comeback to state politics in 2019 but lost to BJP’s Gyan Chand Gupta by a margin of 5,633 votes.
From mayor to MLA
Shakti Rani Sharma, the incumbent mayor of Ambala and wife of Jan Chetna Party leader Vinod Sharma, contested from the Kalka seat in 2014 but got only 7,661 votes. He was inducted into the BJP just two days before contesting from this seat. He has assured people of more employment opportunities and growth of industry in the Kalka area.
Panchkula: The state government’s failure to clear garbage dumps on forest land in Jhuriwala village attracted a lot of attention. Residents living in sectors 21 to 28 had protested against the government over the issue. The poor condition of roads, frequent waterlogging in the city, poor living conditions of slum dwellers and allowing stilt-plus-four construction were other factors during the election.
Kalka: Unemployment and poor development have been major factors in the last five years. Drug menace and lack of potable water were other major issues in the constituency. Former Congress MLA Pradeep Chaudhary had claimed during his campaign that the BJP government had ignored Kalka. The BJP had sought votes for the development of the area.
