Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini campaigns for BJP mayoral candidate Rajrani Malhotra during a roadshow ahead of the Gurugram Municipal Corporation mayoral elections, in Gurugram on February 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Less than six months after a closely fought Assembly poll, the Congress and the ruling BJP are gearing up for yet another contest in Haryana with the election to 33 municipal bodies, including eight municipal corporations, slated for March 2. More than 600 wards are up for grabs.

However, the two regional parties led by the Chautalas — Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) — and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which contested 89 out of the 90 seats in the 2024 Assembly poll, remain largely indifferent towards the polls and are contesting fewer seats this time.

JJP fields only two candidates

The Dushyant Chautala-led JJP had joined hands with the BJP to contest the elections to 46 municipal bodies in June 2022 and won the president’s post in three civic bodies. 

The party, which drew a blank in the Assembly poll with a vote share of less than 1% in alliance with the Azad Samaj Party, has fielded only two candidates for the municipal polls this time, including Parveen Kumar for the president’s post in the Sirsa Municipal Council. 

“The party is in restructuring mode after the Assembly poll and dissolved all its units in December last year. Only after all district units and cells are reconstituted would the party consider contesting any poll. As two of our leaders were keen on contesting, the party allowed them to fight on its symbol,” said JJP spokesperson Deepkamal Saharan.

A JJP leader on condition of anonymity said the party did not have a significant support base in urban areas and that was one of the reasons to stay away from the municipal polls.

Faction seeks overhaul

Struggling to find a foothold in Haryana politics for more than a decade, AAP, which had contested the Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Congress, its INDIA bloc partner, faces internal strife now. 

A faction in its State unit is staying away from the municipal polls and seeking an overhaul of the organisation in the wake of the party’s dismal show in the Assembly poll.

AAP had registered its first electoral victory in Haryana by winning the president’s post in the Ismailabad municipal committee in 2022 and got about 10% of the votes in the State, performing well in Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Kaithal, strongholds of the BJP. 

However, the party has fielded only three mayoral and six presidential candidates this time, besides around 50 candidates for various municipal wards.

State AAP chief Sushil Gupta seems to be leading the poll campaign single-handedly, while its senior vice-president and national spokesperson Anurag Dhanda remains conspicuous by his absence.

“The party’s recent loss in Delhi too has done no good to the morale of the Haryana unit. Even a decade after the party entered Haryana politics, it managed to win only a little over 1% of the vote in the Assembly poll. With no changes in the State unit so far, it seems the central leadership too has given up on its Haryana dream,” said a party leader.

A Gurugram-based woman leader of AAP said the party had little time to prepare for the municipal polls owing to the Delhi Assembly election and is supporting Independents capable of winning.

Traditionally not keen on contesting municipal elections, the INLD, with its mostly rural vote bank, has only fielded a mayoral candidate in Rohtak, a candidate for the president’s post in Sirsa, and candidates in three wards in Ambala Cantonment. 

Party spokesperson Rakesh Sihag said the decision to contest the polls was left to the district units, and candidates were fielded in consultation with them. “Instead of fielding our own candidates, we are supporting Independents with winnability. It will also help prevent division of votes against the ruling party,” Mr. Sihag said.

Congress manifesto

Meanwhile, the State Congress unit on Sunday released its 37-point manifesto for the upcoming municipal elections, promising to “immediately correct wrong Property IDs, simplify house tax, improve the traffic system, and create street vending zones”.

Speaking at the release of the three-page document at Gurugram’s Congress Bhawan, State Congress president Udaibhan said the manifesto was prepared after closely studying the problems of the public and that it touched upon every topic related to public interest. 

He appealed to the people of Gurugram to make the path of development easy by electing the Congress mayor and councillor in the civic elections.

The Congress and the BJP are locked in a direct contest for the Gurugram mayor’s post, with only the candidates of the two parties in the fray.