Karnal, May 15 -- In the Ambala municipal corporation (MC) poll that saw BJP's 32-year-old mayoral candidate Akshita Saini cruising to victory by a margin of 21,358 votes on Wednesday, the Congress' campaign lacked the momentum and intensity displayed by the ruling party, political analysts have said.

The winning candidate secured 52,794 votes, defeating Kulwinder Kaur of the Congress, who polled 31,436 votes. Independent candidate Sonia Chaudhary, backed by AAP-INLD, finished as the second runner-up with 21,730 votes, and 1,691 voters opted for NOTA.

Political analyst Suman Bhatnagar said Sonia's presence prevented the contest from becoming neck-and-neck. Figures showed that the total votes polled by Congress' Kulwinder Kaur and the In...