The BJP’s oft-repeated call for a “triple-engine government” became a reality with the party sweeping the urban local bodies elections across six municipalities. The only upset came in Uklana where the party candidate for the post of president of the municipal committee was defeated by a 23-year-old Independent UPSC aspirant, Reema Soni.The Congress finished a distant second, its mayoral candidates getting only one-third votes compared to the winning BJP candidates, while the Aam Aadmi Party and the Indian National Lok Dal were reduced to the “also-ran” category.The saffron party won the mayoral polls in the three municipal corporations of Panchkula, Ambala and Sonepat while also netting the president’s posts in the Rewari municipal council and the Dharuhera and Sampla municipal committees.The BJP won 50 of the 62 wards in the three municipal corporations. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, said, “Coming as it does after the BJP victory in the recent Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam, the mandate spells grassroots-level acceptance of the BJP’s thinking of taking the country forward under the leadership of the Prime Minister. It is indeed a historic mandate of public trust for development.” He said the public had reposed trust in the principles of development, transparency and public service.Congratulating the BJP for its “spectacular performance” in the urban local bodies elections in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said the win had once again proved that the people had unwavering faith in the policies of development and good governance of the BJP-led NDA government. “This victory is also a symbol of the trust of the people of Haryana in the double-engine government of the state,” he said.BJP Haryana in-charge Satish Poonia said, “This victory is a clear stamp of the people on the development work, transparent administration and public welfare policies of the state government under Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini as also the direction provided by the Prime Minister.”The BJP, which has a concentrated vote bank in urban pockets, was always the front-runner in the municipal elections.The party took time in finalising its candidates, waiting for the Congress to declare its candidates first. Then, based on the caste equations and the local dynamics in wards, the names of candidates were finalised for the posts of mayor and president.Party leaders, including ministers and MLAs, were assigned duties in every municipality to ensure the party’s win.Also, the elections in Rewari and Dharuhera have, once again, established the sway Union minister Rao Inderjeet Singh holds in Rewari. While the newly elected chairperson of the council and the president of the committee belong to the minister’s camp, within hours of the declaration of the results, some of the newly elected Independent members of the council joined the BJP in his presence.The Congress, which won the election in only nine wards of the three municipal corporations, on the other hand, could not get its act together and the tug-of-war between local leaders carried on right through the elections. The fact that the Congress lost the corporation elections in the Assembly segments of Ambala and Panchkula represented by party MLAs Nirmal Singh and Chander Mohan, respectively, adds to the significance of the final outcome. The parliamentary seat in which these corporations fall, too, is represented by Congress MP Varun Chaudhry while Sonepat MP Satpal Brahamchari is also from the Congress.