BJP’s Shyam Lal Bansal was on Wednesday elected as the Mayor of Panchkula through a direct election, defeating arch-rival Congress’s candidate Sudha Bhardwaj by a margin of 36,252 votes as the mayoral poll recorded a turnout of 53.4 per cent on Sunday.

A total of 68,544 votes were polled in favour of Bansal, while Bhardwaj secured 32,292 votes. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Rajesh Kumar secured 2,759 votes and INLD’s Manoj Aggarwal 3,465 votes, while NOTA got 1,443 votes in the mayoral polls.

The result was declared after 21 rounds of vote counting at the counting centre in Sector 14, Panchkula.

Bansal emerged victorious in his fourth election — earlier, he had unsuccessfully contested three Assembly elections from the Kalka constituency. After winning, Bansal and his supporters arrived in a vintage car.

As Bansal began to gain from round 1, hopes for Bhardwaj gradually diminished as the margin increased with each round. Although she was defeated by a large margin, Bhardwaj alleged “vote chori” as she walked out of the counting centre midway.

After around six rounds of counting, Bansal led by 13,282 votes, and BJP workers started gathering with ladoos to celebrate his victory.

The margin of victory for Bansal, 36,252 votes, is much higher than in the previous elections in 2020, when the BJP candidate won by a margin of 2,057 votes.

After his victory, Bansal said, “I will live up to the people’s expectations and continue working for the people of Panchkula as the BJP government has always done.”

BJP wins 17 MC wards, Cong just one

Out of the 20 wards of the Panchkuls Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged victorious in 17, while the Congress managed to win just one ward, and two Independents were also elected.

The Congress candidate won Ward No. 18 by a margin of 165 votes. Independents won Ward Nos. 17 and 20.

In Ward No. 7, the BJP candidate won by a narrow margin of 79 votes, while in Ward No. 10, the margin was 59 votes.