Haryana BJP chief OP Dhankar on Wednesday said that the party is gearing up for the urban local bodies election in the State.
“The elections to 56 urban local bodies (municipalities/municipal councils) in Haryana are due to be conducted by the State Election Commission. The election to Municipal Corporation of Faridabad and Manesar are also likely to be held soon,” said Dhankar after holding a meeting of BJP's election management committee for urban local bodies here.
Dhankar while talking to the mediapersons said that duties have been assigned to the members of the committee to oversee preparations for the polls and the next meeting will be held in December. The election management committee for urban local bodies polls comprises Cabinet Minister Mool Chand Sharma, MP Sanjay Bhatia, former Ministers Manish Grover and Kavita Jain among other party leaders.
The state BJP chief said that local issues will be the focus during the urban local bodies election.
We have discussed the local issues with the elected mayors of BJP as well. The members of the committee have given feedback to us about the issues in the local bodies, where polling is due to be held, he added.
On a question whether repealing three farm laws would benefit the BJP in the upcoming polls, Dhankar said that the issue should not be linked to elections in any way. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also talked about this and the decision should not be linked to elections, he said.
Notably, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) had earlier announced to oppose the candidates supported by the BJP and JJP in the upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections in Haryana.
About polling to panchayati raj institutions in the state, the state BJP chief said due to legal hurdles, the elections to panchayati raj institutions are unlikely to be held soon. The case is subjudice, he said.
The elections to local bodies and PRIs in Haryana assume significance for the ruling BJP as the party had recently tasted defeat in bypoll to Ellenabad assembly seat in Sirsa district.
The ruling BJP-JJP alliance had failed to wrest Ellenabad seat from Indian National Lok Dal, whose candidate Abhay Chauatala had registered victory over BJP’s nominee Gobind Kanda by a slender margin of 6739 votes. The contentious three farm laws was the key issue in the bypoll.