BJP wins 5 mayoral seats, 34 chairman, president posts in Uttarakhand civic polls
Dehradun, Nov 20: The BJP has won five of the seven mayoral seats and 34 of the 84 chairman and president posts in the Uttarakhand civic polls, while Independents sprang a surprise by grabbing 23 posts.
The Congress won 25 of the chairman and president posts in the state's civic bodies and the BSP won one post, according to information released by the state election commission here Wednesday morning.
Results for one post is yet to be declared, it said.
The civic body poll was a high-stake battle for the ruling BJP that was looking to match its own impressive showing in the Uttarakhand elections last year when it had won 57 out of 70 assembly seats.
It was also significant for the Congress that has been struggling to stage a comeback after its defeat in the assembly polls.
The BJP won five of the seven mayoral seats, including Dehradun, Rishikesh, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani, while the Congress won Haridwar and Kotdwar, the commission said.
Voting was held for 84 urban local bodies, including seven municipal corporations, 39 municipal councils and 38 Nagar panchayats in Uttarakhand on Nov 18.
Counting for the polls began on Tuesday morning and went on till late in the afternoon Wednesday.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat termed the result "historic" and said the people had reposed their faith in the saffron party.
BJP's mayoral candidate for Dehradun, Sunil Uniyal Gama, who is said to be very close to the chief minister defeated his nearest rival Dinesh Aggarwal of the Congress by over 35000 votes.
Other victorious BJP mayoral candidates included Anita Mamgai (Rishikesh), Usha Chaudhry (Kashipur), Rampal Singh (Rudrapur) and Jogendra Rautela (Haldwani).
Congress's Anita Sharma won in Haridwar and Hemlata Negi Kotdwar.
Out of a total of 84 posts of municipal council chairmen and panchayat presidents, results of 83 have been declared. The BJP won 34, Congress 25, Independents 23 and BSP one posts.
Soon after winning the Dehradun mayoral seat, Gama drove to the chief minister's official residence to celebrate his victory with Rawat.
Rawat expressed his satisfaction at the results and termed them "encouraging" and "historic", but said the party will review the loss of some key seats, including Doiwala, his own constituency.
"Apparently it seems the equations went wrong in Doiwala. But we will definitely introspect and identify the factors which led to our defeat there," Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of the celebrations.
The chief minister said overall the results were an indication that the people had once again reposed confidence in the BJP.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
