Rural sweep powers BJP win; Cong holds urban pockets in Panchkula

Panchkula: Booth-wise voting in the Panchkula municipal corporation mayoral election reflected a sharply divided electoral landscape, with BJP candidate Sham Lal Bansal dominating most rural and semi-urban booths by large margins, while Congress candidate Sudha Bhardwaj remained competitive mainly in select urban sectors and labour-dominated pockets.

The data points to a clear urban-rural split in voting patterns. BJP drew overwhelming support from villages, peripheral colonies and traditional voter bases, while Congress performed comparatively better in some urban sectors, labour pockets and mixed residential areas.

Even in booths where Congress stayed competitive, BJP’s consistent leads across a larger number of polling stations ultimately translated into a comfortable win for Bansal.

According to the final results, Bansal secured 68,544 votes against 32,292 polled by Bhardwaj, winning by a margin of over 36,000 votes.

BJP’s Biggest Leads

Some of the largest margins for Sham Lal Bansal were recorded in rural and outer-area booths. Booth no. 171 at Govt Middle School, Nada (East Part), saw Bansal polling 655 votes against Sudha Bhardwaj’s 140 — a huge lead of 515 votes. The booth covers three villages and a colony.

Similarly, booth no. 203 at Govt Senior Secondary School, Khatauli (East Part), gave Bansal 637 votes against 372 for Sudha. Booth no. 204 in Khatauli (West Part) also strongly favoured BJP, where Bansal secured 635 votes compared to Sudha’s 429, largely reflecting village support.

Strong BJP dominance was also visible in villages:

Strong BJP dominance was also evident in villages, including Ramgarh (booths 185–188), Kot (194, 196), Sukhdarshanpur (198), Mankya (193) and Billa (189–190). In several of these booths, Bansal comfortably crossed the 400–500 vote mark.

Booths Where Sudha Bhardwaj Performed Strongly

Despite the overall defeat, Congress candidate Sudha Bhardwaj either won or remained highly competitive in several urban and middle-class dominated booths.

Her strongest performance came at booth no. 173 at Govt Primary School, Bana Madanpur village, where she polled 438 votes against Bansal’s 258 — a lead of 180 votes.

Congress also put up strong performances in several booths:

Booth 179, Bright School, Sector 26 (East): Sudha 253 vs Bansal 177

Booth 180, Bright School, Sector 26 (West): Sudha 303 vs Bansal 166

Booth 191, Jaswantgarh: Sudha 265 vs Bansal 162 (village)

Close contests:

Booth 201, Nangal: Sudha 303 vs Bansal 321

Booth 202, Jalauli: Sudha 332 vs Bansal 358

Booth 183, Chitkara International School, Sector 28 (East): 324 vs 328, virtually neck-and-neck.