BJP faced civic protests in rallies, but wins Faridabad 4-2

Faridabad: Like its neighbourhood Gurgaon, BJP dominated Faridabad too, winning 5 of 6 seats in the district.In Faridabad seat, former MLA Vipul Goel of BJP defeated Lakhan Kumar Singla of Congress by a margin of 48,388 votes. In Tigaon, BJP's Rajesh Nagar polled 94,229 votes, trouncing independent Lalit Nagar by 37,401 votes and pushing Rohit Nagar of Congress to third spot with 21,656 votes.In Badkhal, BJP's Dhanesh Adlakha defeated Vijay Pratap Singh of Congress by 6,181 votes. BSP's Manoj Choudhary finished third with 2,493 votes.In Faridabad NIT, BJP candidate Satish Phagna had a victory margin of 33,217 over Congress's Neeraj Sharma.Former BJP minister Moolchand Sharma scored a hat-trick from Ballabgarh, defeating independent candidate Sharda Rathore by 17,730 votes.The only seat where Congress gained foothold was Prithla, where Raghuveer Singh Tewatia defeated BJP's Tek Chand Sharma by 20,379 votes.Like in Gurgaon, mounting civic issues are a cause for concern in Faridabad. During the course of the campaign, several residential areas in Faridabad witnessed protests against the state govt over broken roads, garbage collection and power supply. BJP's Sharma faced protests during his campaign.But campaigns by Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath are believed to have worked for BJP. "Gurgaon and Faridabad are home to many entrepreneurs. BJP initiated a ‘kharchi and parchi' campaign against Congress, alleging that if the party formed office in the state, it would lead to an extortion racket. BJP also accused Congress of selective development, focusing on Bhupinder Singh Hooda's bastion of Rohtak," a poll analyst said.On the other hand, Congress's campaign primarily revolved around a corporate versus farmers narrative, when Rahul Gandhi accused Modi govt of catering to industrialists. "In Haryana, we don't need such a govt, but one of farmers, labourers, and the poor," Gandhi told a gathering last month. The analyst said, "This message, however, failed to strike a chord with the business community and urban electorate."