Fate of 223 Lok Sabha poll nominees to be sealed today

Tribune News Service

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, May 24

It is BJP versus the Congress in the high-voltage electoral battle for the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of Haryana, besides the bypoll in the Karnal Assembly segment, which go to the polls tomorrow.

The high-stakes battle will decide the fate of 223 candidates, including top leaders like former CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, Congress’ Kumari Selja and Deepender Hooda.

The campaign, which saw farmers’ protests against BJP candidates, witnessed aggressive touring by Central leaders, especially of the BJP, including PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah while Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann also rallied behind their candidates.

While the BJP, which won all 10 seats in 2019, is seeking a repeat performance, the Congress, banking on anti-incumbency, is hoping to gain ground. The Lok Sabha results assume special importance in the state since the outcome will set the tone for the Assembly poll scheduled for October. Karnal has emerged as the “most-watched” seat, where Khattar is pitted against first-timer Divyanshu Budhiraja (Congress) and the CM is contesting a bypoll against Congress candidate Trilochan Singh.

In Rohtak, the stakes are high for the BJP. Most of its top leaders held programmes to campaign for MP Arvind Sharma while Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda focused on micro-management to reach out to voters.

Two former Congress state chiefs—Kumari Selja, the Dalit face of the Congress, and Ashok Tanwar, who joined the BJP just before the poll—are locked in an interesting contest in Sirsa. This is particularly important for the Congress since Selja represents the Hooda detractor camp. A win could establish a parallel power centre in the state Congress.

In Gurugram, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh faces Congress candidate Raj Babbar while in Faridabad, the battle between Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar and Mahendra Pratap (Congress) has evoked interest.

AAP’s Sushil Gupta, the only INDIA bloc candidate in Haryana, is contesting from Kurukshetra. He has a direct fight with BJP’s Naveen Jindal, a former Congressman. However, INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala could play a spoiler for him since the Congress and INLD rely heavily on the farmer vote bank.

In Hisar, it is a “family” election, where Power Minister Ranjit Singh, an Independent MLA who joined the BJP ahead of the poll, is pitted against two members of the Chautala clan— JJP’s Naina Chautala and INLD’s Sunaina Chautala. The Congress has fielded Hooda loyalist Jai Prakash, who was once closely associated with the Chautalas.

The Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat is witnessing a close contest between Congress’ Ahir face, Rao Dan Singh, and Jat leader and sitting MP Dharamvir Singh. While Rahul raised the campaign pitch for Dan Singh, Modi held a rally in support of the BJP candidate.

While the BJP and the Congress are contesting for one-upmanship and hoping to set the ball rolling for the Assembly poll, the INLD and JJP, are struggling to stay afloat.

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