Independent Candidate Chitra Sarwara Leads in Ambala Cantt Amidst Haryana Election Counting

Independent candidate Chitra Sarwara is leading in the race for the Ambala Cantt Assembly seat in Haryana. According to data from the Election Commission of India (ECI), Sarwara is ahead of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anil Vij, who is the sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and has held the seat for six consecutive terms. As of Tuesday afternoon, Sarwara had received 20,443 votes compared to 19,898 votes for Vij, after six out of 16 rounds of counting.

Chitra Sarwara, a former Congress member, decided to run as an independent candidate after the Congress party denied her a ticket in favor of Parvinder Pal Pari. Following this decision, the Congress suspended her for six years, citing ‘anti-party’ activities due to her contesting against the party’s official candidate. Sarwara’s political career began in 2013 when she was elected as an independent corporator from Ambala Cantt.

Sarwara previously served as the vice president of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Haryana unit before joining the Congress last year. In the 2019 Haryana assembly elections, she also contested as an independent and finished as a runner-up to Vij, securing 44,406 votes, while Vij received 64,571 votes.

Meanwhile, despite the anti-incumbency factor, the BJP is leading in 51 out of 90 seats in the Haryana assembly elections, under the leadership of Nayab Singh Saini. The party is aiming for a historic third term. In contrast, the Congress, led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is leading on 34 seats and is striving to regain control in a state that has been under BJP governance for the past decade.