BJP-backed councillor Madhu Azad takes over as Ggn Mayor

GURUGRAM: A month and a half after results of the Gurugram civic elections were declared, the city finally got its Mayor on Friday, after Madhu Azad, who won from ward-7, was unanimously chosen by councillors in John Hall.

Surprisingly, the post of Senior Deputy Mayor went to Pramila Kablana who was victorious from ward-9. Sunita Yadav, who won from ward-33, was elected Deputy Mayor. Both Azad's and Yadav's husbands for long have been BJP loyalists, while Kablana's father is a veteran Congress leader from Gurugram.

Amid the many positives, however, various differences emerged within the ruling BJP. Despite attaining majority, with 26 out of 35 elected councillors, the BJP was not able to get all the three posts.

Though it was able to win the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the second most important post of Senior Deputy Mayor was won by the Congress-backed candidate.

Adding to the disappointment of the saffron party, Kablana had defeated the sister-in-law of sitting BJP MLA from Gurugram Umesh Aggarwal.

Aggarwal, in the 2014 General elections, had registered the highest victory margin in Gurugram by 80,000 votes. Though BJP was the only party to contest in all 35 wards, much to the dismay of its leadership, it was only able to win the 14 seats.

However, its two political Ahirwal heavyweights in the form of Rao Narbir Singh and Rao Inderjeet Singh were able to sway the independents and increase BJP's tally to 26.

In the process, however, differences emerged within the party over who would get significant posts. This led to various negotiations and consultation from leaders of Gurugram, Delhi and Chandigarh.

"We would have definitely wanted to win all three posts. But ultimately it is a democratic setup and in the end we must respect and abide by it," Rao Inderjeet Singh had said.