After Maneka, education minister Ram Bilas vies for Karnal ticket

Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 18

Close on the heels of Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Shama has thrown his hat in the ring for nomination as the BJP candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency.

Sources said Sharma, senior-most party legislator in the Haryana Assembly, would formally stake his claim to the seat with the party high command soon. Besides Maneka and Sharma, names of BJP general secretary Sanjay Bhatia and Kiran Chopra, wife of incumbent MP Ashwani Chopra, and a couple of local leaders are also doing the rounds as prospective candidates from Karnal.

When contacted, Sharma said he had always worked for the party with commitment without any reward and was ready for any role assigned by the party high command either in the electoral arena or organisational set-up.

Sharma, as the state party chief, led the party to its best-ever Lok Sabha performance in 2014 when the party won seven of the 10 parliamentary seats. Subsequently, it was under his stewardship that the BJP formed the first government on its own by winning 47 of the 90 seats in the 2014 Assembly elections.

After former Congress MP from Karnal Arvind Sharma joining the BJP, it was widely believed that he would get the ticket from Karnal. However, it is now learnt that Arvind could be fielded from either the Rothak or Sonepat Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP is on the lookout for winnable candidates from all 10 Lok Sabha seats. The party feels that Sharma, who has been instrumental in building the BJP in the state, is the best bet from the Karnal parliamentary segment. If Sharma is fielded from Karnal, it would also check the entry of an ‘outsider’ in the Karnal constituency.

Sources said Maneka could be accommodated from Kurukshetra, where the party is looking for a candidate after the formation of the Loktantra Suraksha Party by its incumbent MP Raj Kumar Saini. Maneka reportedly staked her claim on the Karnal seat recently as she wanted her son Varun Gandhi to contest from Pilibhit.

Union minister aide holds meet in Assandh

Karnal: Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s aide Shanti Swaroop visited Assandh on Sunday and held a meeting with party workers at the residence of BJP leader Suresh Goyal. Swaroop stayed for around half an hour and explored the possibilities of Maneka contesting from Karnal. He took feedback from party workers.