In Gurgaon’s inaugural direct mayoral election, the contest has become a focal point for the city’s influential Punjabi community, with both major parties fielding Punjabi women candidates. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Rajrani Malhotra, a graduate homemaker and wife of RSS veteran Tilak Raj Malhotra. The Congress party has put forward Seema Pahuja, a social worker with a 10th-grade education and former BJP councillor. The election is scheduled for March 2, with approximately 900,000 voters expected to cast their ballots across 721 polling booths to elect a woman mayor from the BC-A category. Malhotra benefits from the BJP’s strong organizational support and her husband’s deep ties within the Punjabi community. Pahuja, despite her recent defection from the BJP, brings valuable local political experience and her husband Bunty Pahuja’s social influence to her campaign. The election’s outcome may hinge on the support of the Vaishya community, which has felt underrepresented in recent elections. The BJP’s candidate selection has caused some dissatisfaction among both Punjabi and Vaishya communities. Congress functionary Ajay Singh Yadav noted that the party’s decision to nominate a Punjabi woman prompted the BJP to adjust its strategy accordingly. Haryana BJP media in-charge Arvind Saini highlighted the party’s previous electoral successes in the region, attributing them to the government’s developmental work. The election results are anticipated to potentially reshape political alignments in the city.
Gurgaon Set for Historic Mayoral Election: BJP vs. Congress in a High-Stakes Contest
