Chandigarh, May 13 (PTI) The counting of votes for the municipal corporations of Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat is underway on Wednesday, with the ruling BJP's mayoral candidates maintaining a healthy lead over their rivals.
The counting of votes started at 8 am.
Polling for the election of the mayor and ward councillors in Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat, for the president and councillors in the Rewari municipal council, and for the presidents and councillors in the Sampla, Dharuhera, and Uklana municipal committees were held on Sunday.
In Dharuhera, BJP's Satyanarayan, alias Ajay Jangra, won against Babu Lal, an Independent candidate, by 6,236 votes, while Congress ended up in third place, as per the result declared on Wednesday.
In Sampla, BJP's Praveen defeated Independent candidate Ankit by 687 votes. However, in Uklana, BJP candidate Nikita Goyal lost to Independent candidate Rima Soni by 2,806 votes.
Bypolls were also held for one ward each in the municipal councils and municipal committees of Tohana, Jhajjar, Rajound, Taraori, Kanina and Sadhaura.
As per official trends, the BJP candidates were maintaining a healthy lead over their rivals in Ambala, Panchkula and Sonipat municipal corporations.
For the Ambala mayor post, BJP's Akshita Saini was leading her Congress nominee rival, Kulwinder Kaur, while Sonia Rani, an Independent, was in third place.
In Panchkula, BJP's Shyamlal Bansal was in the lead over Congress's Sudha Bhardwaj for the mayor's post, while AAP's Rajesh Kumar was in third spot, as per the trends.
For the mayor's post in Sonipat, BJP senior leader Rajiv Jain was leading his nearest rival, Kamal Diwan of the Congress, whereas Anand Kumar of the INLD was trailing in third place.
The polling was held for 20 wards each in Ambala and Panchkula, and 22 wards in Sonipat.
At present, the sitting mayors in three municipal corporations of Panchkula, Ambala and Sonipat are from the BJP.
A spokesperson of the Haryana State Election Commission said directions had been issued to the district election officers and returning officers to ensure that the counting process is conducted in a fair, transparent, peaceful and orderly manner.
The spokesperson said extensive and robust security arrangements have been made at all counting centres.
Only authorised persons are allowed entry at the counting venues. CCTV surveillance, barricading, deployment of adequate police force and all basic facilities have been ensured at the centres, he added.