Panchkula, Kalka to get new MLAs on October 8

Candidates of Panchkula and Kalka will be waiting with bated breath as counting of votes starts at 8 am on Tuesday. Counting of the postal ballots first will be carried out first after which officials will proceed to the electronic voting machines (EVMs). Fourteen tables have been set up in one round, which means that 14 EVMs will be counted at a time and counting will be complete in 17 rounds.
As many as 400 police personnel have been deployed in the two constituencies for the smooth conduct of counting. District election officer and deputy commissioner Yash Garg, who visited the counting centres on Monday, said, “Proper security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth completion of the counting of votes.”
Deputy commissioner of police Himadree Kaushik added, “There is three tier security around both counting centres. Paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the first circle, the State Armed Police are in the second circle and district police personnel are in the third circle. Nakas have been set up at eight places.”
In Panchkula, over 1.4 lakh voters had exercised their franchise. Though there are 10 candidates in fray here, there is a direct contest between arch-rivals Gian Chand Gupta, 76, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who is aiming for a hat-truck, and Chander Mohan, 58, of the Congress who is looking to reclaim the seat after 10 years. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded Prem Garg, 71, with an aim to make inroads into the segment.
Fighting anti-incumbency, incumbent MLA Gupta had sought votes citing developments works worth ₹5,000 crore, carried out in the last 10 years.
Chander Mohan, meanwhile, is banking on the legacy of his father, former chief minister Bhajan Lal, in his battle for survival. He had contested on the promise of fulfilling his father’s dream of turning Panchkula into the “Paris of Haryana”. Garg, who is president of AAP’s Chandigarh unit, had talked of “badlav” (change).
Panchkula assembly constituency had recorded 59.36 % voting, a slight dip from 59.96% seen in 2019. Panchkula assembly constituency, which was earlier a part of the Kalka assembly constituency, had come into existence in 2009 after delimitation.
In 2019, Gupta, playing the development card, had defeated Chander Mohan by 5,633 votes. In 2014, Gupta, riding on the Modi wave, had defeated Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Kulbhushan Goyal by 44,602 votes. In 2009, DK Bansal of the Congress defeated INLD’s Yograj Singh by 12,260 votes.
Neck-&-neck contest between BJP, Cong in Kalka
In Kalka assembly constituency, though there were seven candidates in fray, it is largely a direct contest between Congress’ Pradeep Chaudhary, 63, and BJP’s Shakti Rani Sharma, 71.
Kalka assembly constituency has seen 72.07% voting, a dip from 2019 when it recorded 72.46% voting. In 2014, it recorded 79.31% polling and 77.21% in 2009.
Incumbent MLA Pradeep Chaudhary had weaved his campaign around the “outsider” versus local narrative while accusing the BJP government of ignoring the constituency. Sharma, who figures among the top 10 crorepati candidates in the state, with assets worth ₹144 crore, contested the election with the promise to make Kalka number 1 in holistic development and eradication of drugs. Sharma was the first woman mayor of Ambala and is the wife of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma. She was inducted into the BJP just a few days before her candidature was announced. She had earlier contested from Kalka on a ticket of her husband’s party, Haryana Jan Chetna Party, in 2014 and managed to get 7,661 votes (6.15% vote share). She is the mother of Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma and her eldest son, Siddharth Vashisht, also known as Manu Sharma, was convicted in the infamous Jessica Lal murder case in Delhi in April 1999 and released in June 2020.
Elections to the Kalka assembly constituency have been held 14 times from 1967 to 2019. Former deputy CM Chander Mohan, contesting presently from Panchkula, was elected four times in a row from 1993 to 2005.
In 2019, Congress candidate Chaudhary had defeated BJP’s Latika Sharma by a margin of 5,931 votes. In 2014, BJP’s Latika Sharma won by defeating Chaudhary, then in the INLD, by a margin of 19,027 votes. In 2009, INLD candidate Pradeep Chaudhary won by defeating Congress candidate Satvinder Singh Rana by 21,187 votes.
Traffic advisory regarding counting of votes
In view of the counting, some routes will remain closed for traffic. The road from Bhagwan Valmiki Chowk to Cross Road on both sides will remain closed towards Government Women College, Sector 14, Panchkula. Apart from this, the route (single way) from Bella Vista Chowk to Majri Chowk towards Government College, Sector 1, will be completely closed from 5 am to 4 pm. “Movement of unauthorised persons is prohibited at the counting centres,” said Panchkula deputy commissioner of police Himadree Kaushik.